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BY     MISS    BOUVET. 


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A.  C.  McCLURG   AND   CO.,  CHICAGO. 


"  There  is  something  I  have  wanted  to  ask  you  about  for  a 
long  time." 


PIERRETTE 


BY 


MARGUERITE   BOUVET 


AUTHOR    OF 


"A  CHILD  OF  TUSCANY,"  "MY  LADY,"  "SWEET  WILLIAM, 

"LITTLE  MARJORIE'S  LOVE  STORY,"  "PRINCE 

TIP   TOP,"    ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED   BY 

WILL    PHILLIP    HOOPER 


CHICAGO 

A.  C.  McCLURG   AND    COMPANY 
1899 


COPYRIGHT 

BY  A.    C.    MCCLURG    AND   CO. 

A.  D.  1896. 


All  rights  reserved. 


V'*»?,-  "^>t^1'"**    •4»^'.^'|IV»  tV^t  QltiSftft  * 

'  •**".'  '^  v'*>*-' sl'"->          <»-    .V*      -^"'oV 


Illustrated 

\f\\\   Philliis  Hooper 


STACK 
ANNEX 


P 


P 


£  sure  ive  have  done,  if  only  half  done, 
The  good  '/  was  ours  to  do '? 

Hate  have  we  conquered,  and  by  love  have  we  won, 
Aye,  won  our  enemy,  toof" 

VICTOR  HUGO. 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 
"  One  evening  Pierrette  and  her  mother  sat  together 

beside  the  window " 19 

" '  Here  is  a  piece  of  work  that  once  belonged  to  the 

Countess  of  B. '  " 37 

"  '  Ah,  le  monstre  !  "' 47 

"She  was  just  emerging  from  the  big  stone  portal, 

'with  her  precious  bundle  in  her  arms  "  ...  55 

"  Even  grumbling  old  Jeanneton  said,  when  she  came 
in,  that  it  was  as  if  a  sunbeam  had  entered  her 
room  " 71 

"  Elize  and  Pierrette  had  been  obliged  to  stand  a 

little  aloof  on  account  of  the  crowd "  .  .  .  .  83 

"  '  There  is  something  I  have  wanted  to  ask  you  about 

for  a  long  time  "" 97 

"'  I  know,  I  know,  Monsieur,  and  I  thank  you  in  my 

heart"' 115 

"  As  if  all  the  airy  sprites  she  had  heard  of  in  the 
old  fairy-book  were  dancing  by  her  in  gay 
procession" ' 123 

"  They  walked  down  the  shady  avenue  "    ....     131 


xii  PIERRETTE. 

PAGE 

"  He  was  obliged  to  have  a  serious  tussle  with  Joy- 

of-My-heart" 149 

"'But,  Madame,'  he  said  in  a  feeble  voice  of  apol 
ogy,  '  I  do  not  understand !'"      161 

"  '  Look,  look,  petite  mere,  it  is  a  Christmas  basket  "      1 73 

" '  Ah,  Madame,'  she  said,  tremulously,  '  you  make 

me  very  happy  !'" 185 

"  Pierrette  did  as  she  was  bidden,  and  laid  the  cool, 

wet  cloth  on  the  old  man's  head  " 193 


PIERRETTE. 


CHAPTER   I. 

How  was  it  that  she  had  found  her  way  into 
that  gloomy,  narrow,  crowded,  noisy  quarter  of 
the  Luxembourg,  that  busy  section  of  Paris 
where  the  people  are  for  the  most  'part  poor, 
and  must  live  all  huddled  up  together  in  great 
dismal  houses,  and  have  to  labor  very  hard  to 
earn  their  meagre  living!  In  that  vast  human 
bee-hive  where  every  one,  child  as  well  as  man 
or  woman,  has  some  art  or  trade  at  which  he 
toils  for  the  glory  and  fame  of  his  dear  city ! 

One  would  scarcely  have  expected  to  find 
such  a  bright,  pretty  little  creature  as  Pierrette 
hidden  away  there  under  a  high  attic  set  in 


1 4-  PIERRETTE. 

the  irregular  roofs  of  one  of  the  oldest  houses 
in  old  Paris.  Yet  I  am  not  sure  that  these 
humble  surroundings  did  not  serve  the  better  to 
set  forth  her  fresh  young  beauty,  her  gentle 
little  graces,  and  the  sunny  nature  that  made 
the  dingy  garret  seem  a  home  instead  of  a 
prison,  for  a  little  light  often  shines  brightest 
in  dark  places.  Pierrette  had  no  recollection 
of  any  other  home.  She  could  remember  no 
other  days  than  those  which  she  had  spent  with 
"  Petite  Mere "  in  the  little  room  under  the 
peaked  roof  of  the  old  house.  She  was  very 
young  when  she  was  brought  to  it,  and  she 
had  grown  up  there  contented,  like  a  young 
pigeon  in  a  very  small  cote,  never  dreaming  of 
the  wonders  and  splendors  of  the  great  city  in 
which  she  lived. 

But  the  "  Little  Mother,"  who  was  all  alone 
in  the  world  now  save  for  Pierrette,  could 
remember  a  happier  time,  when  she  had  had 
her  own  little  home  in  pretty  Meudon,  in  the 
beautiful  open  country,  with  a  broad  expanse 
of  sunshine  and  sky  overhead,  and  an  abun 
dance  of  sweet  air  and  flowers,  and  a  kind 
husband  to  love  and  care  for  her;  and  it  was 


PIERRETTE.  15 

very  hard  now  to  live  in  this  wretched  way 
after  having  once  known  happiness  and  peace, 
to  sit  beside  her  high  window  in  the  daytime, 
and  beside  her  lamp  at  night,  working  with 
weary  fingers  and  straining  eyes  at  some  bit  of 
fine  lace  for  which  she  received  scarcely  enough 
to  keep  herself  and  Pierrette  from  starving. 

She  was  young,  and  knew 'very  little  of  the 
ways  of  the  great  world  when  she  had  been  left 
a  widow,  and  she  had  thought,  like  many  others, 
that  her  only  chance  of  earning  a  decent  liveli 
hood  was  in  coming  to  Paris.  To  Paris,  alas  ! 
that  great  refuge  of  struggling  human  beings. 
She  did  not  know  what  life  was  to  the  poor  in  a 
great  city;  she  could  not  foresee  the  loneliness, 
the  disappointments,  the  trials  and  hardships 
she  would  have  to  endure.  She  had  only  seen 
Paris  from  without,  as  it  seems  to  all  those  who 
first  look  upon  its  beauty,  — gay,  brilliant,  smil 
ing  and  beckoning,  promising  many  things. 
And  she  had  sold  what  little  she  possessed,  and 
come  to  this  fair  haven  alone  with  her  little 
daughter,  but  full  of  hope  and  courage. 

She  was  very  deft  with  her  fingers,  as  are 
most  of  the  women  of  France,  and  she  had 


1 6  PIERRETTE. 

learned  the  art  of  making  beautiful  laces  from 
rare  old  patterns,  and  she  knew  that  in  Paris 
there  were  many  people  who  paid  large  sums  of 
money  for  the  lovely  work,  and  that  many 
workers  were  employed  by  the  big  merchants 
who  supplied  the  luxurious  wants  and  caprices  of 
the  rich  world.  But  the  city  was  very  crowded 
when  she  came  to  live  in  it,  for  there  were 
nearly  two  millions  of  people  there  already,  who 
were  trying  to  do  just  what  she  wanted  to  do, 
to  earn  a  few  sous  by  their  handiwork;  and  she 
felt  almost  lost  in  that  struggling,  toiling  multi 
tude.  They  had  to  live  very  poorly,  for  their 
resources  were  small  and  were  soon  exhausted ; 
and  many  days  and  weeks  went  by  before  any 
one  came  to  offer  them  any  work. 

Ah,  what  despairing  days  those  were  for  the 
poor  little  mother,  as  she  sat  in  the  miserable 
little  room,  her  arms  clasped  about  Pierrette, 
weeping  and  asking  God  what  was  to  become  of 
them  !  Pierrette  was  too  young  to  understand 
or  realize  what  they  were  suffering,  and  that 
was  indeed  a  blessing;  but,  young  as  she  was, 
she  was  a  comfort  to  the  little  mother.  For  her 
the  young  widow  prayed  and  lived;  without 


PIERRETTE.  I/ 

her  life  would  hardly  have  been  worth  the  effort 
she  was  making  to  keep  it  going.  The  child's 
very  ignorance  was  a  blessing,  and  her  innocent 
smiles  and  unconscious  childish  prattle  cheered 
many  long  and  weary  days  of  waiting. 

They  had  been  living  in  Paris  now  nearly  five 
years,  —  living  a  life  that  would  have  seemed 
miserable  to  many,  for  there  was  but  little  food 
and  scanty  clothing,  and  scarcely  any  fire  in  the 
wintry  season,  and  no  fresh,  cool  air  in  the  hot 
summer.  Yet  the  little  garret  room  under  the 
eaves  had  during  that  time  grown  to  be  their 
home,  and  they  had  learned  to  care  for  it  in 
spite  of  its  poverty;  because  it  held  all  that  was 
most  precious  to  them  in  the  world,  and  that 
was  each  other. 

It  was  a  bare  little  room  enough,  and  dismal 
enough,  when  the  sun  happened  to  be  shining 
on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  or  not  at  all,  for 
it  had  but  one  small  square  window;  but  there 
were  a  few  pale  flowers  doing  their  best  to 
bloom  in  bits  of  broken  china  that  stood  on  its 
ledge,  and  an  old  vine  had  crept  up  between 
the  stones  from  ever  so  far  down  below  in  the 
street,  as  if  purposely  to  keep  them  company, 


1 8  PIERRETTE. 

and  a  golden  canary  hung  in  a  cage  above  this 
bit  of  verdure  and  sang  merrily,  all  the  day:  all 
of  which  showed  that  there  was  a  gentle  spirit 
reigning  there.  The  walls  were  dingy  and  dis 
colored  with  age,  and  the  floor  was  made  of 
chill  gray  stone,  and  what  few  necessities  they 
had  were  of  the  plainest  kind;  but  everything 
was  well  kept  and  exquisitely  neat,  for  though 
the  little  mother  was  poor,  and  a  daughter  of 
the  people,  she  was  of  the  people  of  France, 
who  by  some  inborn,  unconscious  grace  are  able 
to  soften  the  cruel  edges  of  necessity,  and  to 
make  poverty  seem  less  hideous  with  them  than 
it  is  anywhere  else  in  the  world. 

One  evening  Pierrette  and  her  mother  sat 
together  beside  the  window.  It  was  too  early 
to  light  the  lamp,  and  yet  too  dark  to  see  the 
fallen  stitches  in  the  lace  that  she  was  mending, 
and  the  young  woman  lay  back  in  her  chair 
with  her  eyes  closed  and  her  work  in  her  lap, 
enjoying  one  of  those  rare  idle  moments  that 
are  so  precious  to  weary  workers.  Pierrette 
nestled  closer  and  looked  questioningly  at  the 
pale  young  face. 

"  You    are    very    tired,    petite    mere,    let    me 


'One  evening;  Pierrette  and  her  mother  sat  together  beside 
the  window." 


PIERRETTE.  2 1 

stroke  your  pretty  head,  and  perhaps  you  will 
fall  asleep." 

"  Ah,  that  must  not  be  until  night  comes,  my 
Pierrette ;  the  work  must  be  finished  first,  and 
if  Pere  Michel  is  pleased,  and  pays  us  our 
money,  we  shall  be  sure  of  a  dinner  to-morrow, 
and  shall  sleep  all  the  better  for  it  to-night," 
said  the  little  mother,  with  a  smile. 

"  It  is  very  bad  of  people  to  tear  their  laces 
and  take  them  to  Pere  Michel  for  you  to  mend. 
I  wish  they  would  not  do  so  any  more,"  said 
the  child. 

"  Not  so,  my  little  Pierrette ;  we  must  be 
very  grateful  to  them  for  taking  the  lace  to 
Pere  Michel,  otherwise  there  would  be  nothing 
for  us  to  do.  It  would  be  a  sad  time  for  us  if 
the  rich  people  gave  us  no  work." 

"  But  the  mending  is  tedious  and  hurts  your 
eyes,  petite  mere." 

"  Yes,  it  is  hard  to  darn  up  the  holes,  and  to 
make  them  look  like  the  rest ;  and  I  could  take 
more  pleasure  in  setting  up  a  beautiful  new 
piece  from  one  of  the  lovely  patterns  that  I 
have.  But  we  must  not  complain  as  long  as  we 
can  earn  a  few  sous.  We  are  not  so  poorly  off 


22  PIERRETTE. 

as  we  might  be,  not  so  poorly  off  as  old  Jean- 
neton,  who  is  sick  and  who  has  no  little  girl  to 
comfort  her,  are  we,  Pierrette?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  maman,  we  are  not  unhappy  like 
poor  Jeanneton ;  but  then  she  is  old  and  cross 
and  ugly,  and  you  will  never  be  old  and  ugly 
like  her.  You  are  a  sweet,  pretty  mother,  and 
of  course  you  are  never  cross,"  and  she  stroked 
the  delicate  hand  that  lay  in  hers.  "  Is  it 
not  always  the  cross,  bad  people  who  are 
unhappy? " 

"  Not  always,  dear;  it  is  more  often  because 
of  their  misfortunes  that  people  grow  cross  and 
ill-tempered  ;  but  we  all  have  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  our  own  happiness.  It  is  safest  to  be 
good,  and  to  do  the  duty  that  God  sends  us  to 
do,  and  happiness  will  surely  follow  at  some 
time,"  said  the  little  mother,  who  had  a  gentle, 
pious  nature,  and  whose  faith  alone  had  upheld 
her  through  all  her  tribulations. 

"  That  is  what  you  always  say,  petite  mere. 
I  should  think  that  '  sometime '  would  come 
very  soon  for  you ;  for  you  are  so  good,  so 
good  that  even  old  Jeanneton  calls  you  a  saint." 

The    young    mother    bent    down    and   kissed 


PIERRETTE.  23 

Pierrette.  To  that  tender  little  creature,  it  was 
reward  enough  for  all  her  goodness  and  self- 
sacrifice  that  her  dear  Pierrette  should  love  and 
trust  her  so  much.  The  thought  that  a  little 
child,  innocent  of  all  this  world's  wrongs,  looks 
to  us  for  every  good,  and  takes  us  for  its  model 
of  every  virtue,  has  served  to  ennoble  and 
strengthen  many  of  us  when  we  might  otherwise 
have  been  cowardly  and  weak. 

"Now,  little  mother  dear,  you  must  soon 
teach  me  to  do  the  mending;  and  then  perhaps 
I  can  do  all  of  Pere  Michel's  work,  and  you  need 
only  stitch  at  the  beautiful  new  pieces." 

"Not  yet,  my  Pierrette;  you  are  still  too 
young  to  do  such  work.  You  would  not  do  it 
well,  perhaps,  and  Pere  Michel  would  scold  us. 
You  know  how  vexed  he  is  if  there  is  a  thread 
loose  anywhere.  You  must  be  content  to  at 
tend  to  your  little  duties  at  home  ;  and  that  is  as 
much  help  as  you  can  give  me  for  the  present." 

Secretly,  the  little  mother  had  a  dread  of 
Pierrette's  beginning  at  her  tender  age  to  work 
for  wages  as  if  she  were  obliged  to  earn  her 
own  living.  She  had  seen  so  many  children  in 
the  neighborhood,  scarcely  older  than  Pierrette, 


24  PIERRETTE. 

with  tired,  careworn  faces,  bending  at  some 
trade  or  other,  perhaps  till  late  in  the  night  ; 
and  it  seemed  a  terrible  thing  to  her  that  a 
child  should  know  no  childhood  because  of 
poverty  and  want.  She  had  striven  hard  that 
Pierrette  should  never  know  such  hardships  ; 
she  cherished  a  hidden  thought  that  somehow, 
at  some  time,  she  did  not  exactly  explain  to 
herself  in  what  way,  something  would  happen 
that  would  bring  about  a  change  in  Pierrette's 
life,  —  a  change  for  something  brighter  and  hap 
pier  than  they  had  ever  known.  She  felt,  like 
the  fond  little  mother  that  she  was,  that  Pier 
rette  was  unlike  other  children  whom  she  knew. 
She  was  gentler,  more  thoughtful  and  more 
loving.  Her  quiet,  simple  life  had  rendered 
her  not  old  and  unchildlike,  but  sweetly  serious 
and  reasonable,  so  that  she  and  the  young 
mother  were  like  companions,  having  no  thoughts 
apart  from  one  another. 

Pierrette  rose  at  once  and  lighted  the  little 
oil-lamp,  for  it  had  grown  quite  dark  while  they 
sat  talking.  She  drew  the  small  round  table 
into  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  set  the  light 
upon  it,  and  her  mother's  working  chair  close 


PIERRETTE.  25 

beside  it,  ready  for  the  evening's  work.  Then 
she  went  about  the  room,  like  a  little  housewife, 
closing  the  curtains,  and  covering  the  canary, 
and  stirring  up  the  embers  of  the  scanty  fire 
in  the  hollow  of  the  old  chimney. 

The  evenings  were  long,  for  it  was  just  in  the 
fall  of  the  year,  when  Paris  looks  very  gray  and 
bleak  after  the  sun  has  gone  down,  and  when  a 
raw  chill  wind  howls  fiercely  down  the  gables 
of  the  old  houses  in  the  quarter  of  the  Luxem 
bourg,  and  when  every  man  feels  that  his  own 
fireside,  however  plain  and  humble  it  may  be,  is 
assuredly  the  best  place  to  be  in  at  that  hour. 
Pierrette  and  her  maman  made  a  very  comfortable 
and  pleasing  picture  as  they  sat  together  under 
the  rosy  glow  of  the  lamp,  —  the  young  mother 
bending  over  her  work,  and  the  little  girl  prepar 
ing  her  needles,  or  holding  her  frame  and  watch 
ing  intently  the  progress  of  every  stitch.  For 
Pierrette's  maman  was  in  truth  all  that  the  child 
had  said  of  her,  a  sweet,  tender,  lovely  little  wo 
man.  She  had  no  riches  to  set  ofif  her  still  girlish 
beauty ;  but  her  slender  figure  was  graceful  in 
her  neat  black  gown,  and  her  pretty  head  and 
throat  rose  like  a  flower  from  the  folds  of  her 


26  PIERRETTE. 

white  kerchief.  She  had  large  gray  eyes  that 
were  both  mild  and  fearless,  and  an  abundance 
of  soft  brown  hair  that  waved  of  its  own  fancy 
about  her  white  temples,  a  sensitive  mouth,  and 
the  sweetest  smile  in  the  world, —  at  least,  so 
Pierrette  thought.  And  the  little  girl  was 
remarkably  like  her. 

What  wonder,  then,  that  these  two  young 
creatures  were  at  peace  and  even  happy,  happy 
in  a  little  garret,  with  so  few  of  the  things  which 
the  world  counts  necessary  to  happiness  !  What 
wonder,  indeed  !  For  one  can  be  happy  almost 
anywhere,  almost  anyhow,  when  one  is  young. 


r 


CHAPTER   II. 

VERY  early  the  next  morning,  Pierrette  and 
her  mother  were  making  their  way  through  the 
little  narrow  dingy  street  called  the  "  rue  des 
Anges,"  where  Pere  Michel  had  his  shop.  Pier 
rette  had  often  wondered  why  this  small  busy 
street,  hardly  more  than  a  generous  alley,  should 
have  been  given  the  comely  name  of  "  the  street 
of  the  Angels.""  Truly  the  people  who  inhab 
ited  it  could  not  be  said  to  resemble  angels  in 
any  particular  whatsoever.  They  were  very 
substantial,  earthly-looking  people,  especially 
the  children,  of  whom  the  population  seemed 
chiefly  to  consist.  Yet  I  am  not  sure  that  the 
rue  des  Anges  was  not  a  paradise  in  its  way,  — a 
very  dark,  dingy,  dirty  sort  of  paradise,  but  well 
enough,  I  dare  say,  for  those  who  had  no  notion 


28  PIERRETTE. 

of  one  better;  for  its  people  were  about  as  easy 
going  and  care-free  a  community  as  one  could 
wish  to  meet  anywhere  in  Paris. 

The  street  was  hardly  more  than  two  hundred 
yards  long,  and  yet  there  were  people  enough 
living  in  it  to  populate  an  ordinary  sized  village. 
It  was  stocked  with  curious  little  shops  of  vari 
ous  small  traffic,  with  all  their  wares  displayed  at 
one  window  or  case,  and  that  was  done  with 
such  skill  and  grace  that  the  eye  of  the  passer 
by  could  not  but  be  arrested  by  their  contents. 
There  was  a  number  of  distracting  toy-shops, 
with  gay-colored  polichinellcs  dangling  from  the 
ceiling,  and  capable  of  the  most  fascinating  con 
tortions  ;  and  it  was  here  that  the  gamins  of  the 
neighborhood  loved  to  congregate,  and  stare  and 
exclaim  their  admiration,  and  long  in  vain  for 
the  airy  nothings  that  the  children  of  the  rich 
have  without  the  asking  and  cast  aside  the  next 
moment.  It  was  here  that  little  Pierrette  glanced 
wistfully  whenever  she  travelled  back  and  forth 
to  Pere  Michel's.  There  was  so  much  in  these 
windows,  although  they  were  so  small,  to  attract 
the  eye  of  a  child,  —  such  brilliant  coloring,  such 
quaint  devices,  such  airy  fabrications,  as  only 
the  artisan  of  Paris  knows  how  to  fashion. 


PIERRETTE.  29 

At  the  very  end  of  the  street,  underneath  the 
projecting  arcades  of  an  old  square  building, 
was  a  large  iron  gate-way  leading  into  a  circular 
court  upon  which  Pere  Michel's  dwelling  opened. 
For  Pere  Michel's  traffic  was  of  that  conserva 
tive  sort  that  he  felt  perfectly  certain  of  his 
patronage  no  matter  how  obscure  or  remote  his 
place  of  habitation  might  be.  There  was  no 
thing  at  the  entrance  of  the  old  stone  building 

o  o 

to  suggest  the  presence  of  so  important  a  per 
sonage  as  Pere  Michel.  The  ignorant  might 
have  gone  on  looking  for  him  up  and  down  the 
rue  des  Anges,  and  never  found  him.  But  those 
who  patronized  him,  or,  to  speak  more  exactly, 
whom  he  patronized,  knew  that  they  must  walk 
the  entire  length  of  the  damp  court  and,  turning 
up  a  short  flight  of  mouldy  steps  on  the  left, 
knock,  with  due  precaution,  at  a  long  glass  door 
on  which  was  inscribed,  in  the  smallest  possible 
letters :  - 

A.  MICHEL 
NEGOCIANT  DE  LUXE. 

It  was  not  every  one,  however,  who  knew  by 
this  inscription  just  the  nature  of  Pere  Michel's 


30  PIERRETTE. 

traffic.  One  had  really  to  enter  the  little  shop 
in  order  to  understand  the  true  importance  of 
his  business.  But  that  was  not  an  easy  matter 
to  accomplish,  for  it  was  one  of  old  Michel's 
oddities  never  to  admit  anyone  inside  his  dwell 
ing  until  he  knew  precisely  what  their  business 
was,  and  had  agreed  with  them  about  it  before 
hand.  In  this  way  he  had  grown  to  be  a  sort  of 
autocrat  in  the  court;  and  his  neighbors  were 
much  puzzled  concerning  him,  and  looked  upon 
him  as  a  mysterious,  and  therefore  a  dangerous, 
character.  But  A.  Michel  gave  them  no  satis 
faction,  and  left  them  to  their  own  conjectures. 
All  that  they  gleaned  of  his  doings  was  from 
watching  the  people  who  came  and  knocked  at 
his  door.  They  were  for  the  most  part  women, 
—  ladies  and  working  girls.  The  ladies  came 
in  their  carriages  to  the  entrance  of  the  court, 
and  were  usually  covered  with  long  mantles  and 
closely  veiled  when  they  walked  out,  which  did 
not  in  the  least  disguise  the  fact  that  they  were 
ladies,  as  every  observer  at  the  windows  could 
tell,  by  their  gait  and  demeanor. 

The  others  were  girls, — shop-girls,  working 
girls  of  all  classes,  who  made  no  attempt  to  dis- 


PIERRETTE.  3 1 

guise  their  identity,  being  rather  proud  than 
otherwise  of  their  exploits  at  Fere  Michel's, 
and  who  always  came  away  with  delighted  faces 
and  one  or  more  mysterious  bundles  in  their 
arms. 

Then  there  were  yet  a  few  others,  like  Pier 
rette's  mother,  who  came  and  went  so  quietly 
that  they  were  scarcely  noticed  by  the  dwellers 
of  the  court ;  for  they  came  neither  to  sell  nor 

to  buy,  but   to  bring  and  take  away  the   work 

/ 
with  which  the  old   man  supplied  them. 

The  little  mother  gave  a  gentle  tap  at  the 
glass  door  which  was  no  longer  transparent, 
because  of  the  great  quantity  of  dust  that  had 
gathered  and  settled  on  its  surface.  In  a  few 
moments  a  fat  finger  appeared  on  the  inside  of 
the  pane,  and  cleared  a  small  round  opening  of 
its  dust,  and  a  round  red  eye  bleared  at  them 
through  it.  Having  satisfied  himself  that  Pier 
rette  and  her  mother  were  no  intruders,  Pere 
Michel  immediately  loosened  the  bolt  and  stood 
before  them  in  a  red  night-cap  and  long  loose 
dressing-gown. 

o    o 

"  Aie,  aie,  aie,  it  is  you,  Ma'am  Elize  and 
M'amzelle  Pierrette,  very  early  and  yet  too 


32  PIERRETTE. 

late,"  said  the  old  man,  with  a  threatening  wrin 
kle  in  his  brow,  and  yet  making  a  very  polite 
salutation. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Monsieur  Michel  ? " 
said  the  little  mother,  in  anxious  alarm.  "  You 
told  me  to  bring  the  lace  back  on  Friday,  and 
it  is  only  Wednesday." 

"  That  is  just  like  you  women,  Wednesday, 
Friday,  Thursday !"  cried  Pere  Michel,  in  his 
nasal  tenor,  and  shrugging  his  shoulders  so  that 
his  neck  almost  disappeared  between  them. 
"  What  is  that  to  me,  hein  !  You  think  I  can 
wait  till  Wednesday  or  Friday  to  make  a  good 
bargain  !  I  tell  you  if  I  had  had  that  strip  of 
lace  yesterday  I  might  have  sold  it  for  thirty 
francs.  Do  you  comprehend  that?  —  thirty 
good  francs! — a  fortune  that  does  not  drop  in 
one's  beak  every  day ;  and  yet  you  talk  to  me 
of  Friday!  Aie,  aie,  aie !  "  and  Pere  Michel 
scratched  his  ear  and  frowned  as  he  beckoned 
them  in  and  closed  the  door. 

"  Oh,  I  am  .  so  very  sorry  !  "  said  the  little 
mother,  timidly.  "  If  I  had  known  you  wanted 
it,  I  could  have  worked  at  night  and  finished  it; 
and  Pierrette  might  have  brought  it  yesterday. 


PIERRETTE.  33 

But  I  thought  this  was  an  order,  not  a  piece 
for  sale." 

"  No,  it  was  not  an  order  this  time,  and  I  have 
missed  a  rare  chance  of  making  a  precious  thirty 
francs,  that  is  all.  It  is  of  no  use  weeping  over 
it  now,"  he  added  with  sudden  philosophy,  ob 
serving  the  look  of  confusion  on  the  young 
woman's  face,  "no  use  regretting  what  is  past; 
we  have  no  time  for  that.  Come,  let  us  look  at 
the  lace,  a  pestilence  on  it !  I  shall  always  be  a 
poor  beggar  simply  because  I  can  never  catch 
a  glimpse  of  my  luck  until  it  is  just  turning  the 
corner." 

Elize  untied  her  little  paper  parcel  with  ner 
vous  fingers,  and  displayed  about  three  yards  of 
soft  rich  lace,  of  beautiful  texture,  and  so  exquis 
itely  wrought  that  no  eye  save  that  of  sharp  old 
Fere  Michel  could  ever  have  detected  that  once 
its  firm  edge  had  been  torn  and  that  its  roses 
lost  some  of  their  petals. 

The  old  man  took  it  up  in  his  fingers,  and 
examined  it  closely,  inch  by  inch,  and  spread  it 
out  upon  his  knees,  and  held  it  up  to  the  light, 
and  then  he  laid  it  aside,  saying,  with  rare  con 
descension,  "  It  is  not  so  bad,  not  so  bad;  "  for 
3 


34  PIERRETTE. 

which  the  little  mother  felt  exceedingly  grateful, 
for  the  old  man  never  paid  one  sou  for  any 
thing  until  he  had  thoroughly  ascertained  that  it 
was  in  every  way  satisfactory.  "  Is  there  some 
thing  else  for  me  to  take  away  this  morning, 
Monsieur  Michel?"  asked  the  little  woman,  with 
hesitation. 

But  Pere  Michel  did  not  answer  immediately. 
He  was  busy  dropping  some  eggs  into  a  pot  of 
boiling  water  for  his  breakfast.  He  did  not 
know,  or  perhaps  he  only  appeared  not  to  know, 
how  anxiously  his  answer  was  awaited  by  the 
two  young  creatures  who  depended  so  largely 
upon  him  for  their  bread.  Pere  Michel  was 
such  a  surprising  old  person  one  could  never 
quite  tell  what  he  would  do  next.  1 1  is  moods 
were  uncertain,  and  Elize  was  never  sure  whether 
she  had  pleased  him  or  not.  He  was  now  deeply 
absorbed  in  a  tussle  with  "  Joy-of-My-Heart," 
who  was  taking  too  active  an  interest  in  the 
hard-boiled  eggs. 

Joy-of-My-Heart  was  a  fat,  ugly,  snarling 
poodle  with  a  \voolly  tangled  coat  and  a  most 
idiotic  expression  of  countenance  as  he  lay  on 
his  back,  all  fours  in  the  air,  wriggling  and  mak- 


PIERRETTE.  35 

ing  the  most  unseemly  noises,  which  amused 
Pierrette  immensely,  although  she  dared  not 
laugh,  as  she  knew  Fere  Michel  to  be  extremely 
sensitive  on  the  subject  of  his  beast.  It  was 
another  of  the  old  man's  oddities  that  he  had 
more  regard  and  affection  for  this  uninteresting 
brute  than  for  any  human  being  on  earth. 

While  they  sat  waiting  for  him  to  speak, 
Pierrette  was  looking  about  the  little  room  to 
see  what  changes  had  taken  place  since  her  last 
visit;  for  the  quaint  old  shop  was  always  a 
source  of  interest  and  wonder  to  her.  It  con 
tained  what  Pere  Michel  called  his  "  luxe," 
which  was  a  motley  assortment  of  discarded  fin 
ery  from  the  ladies  of  the  faubourg.  There  were 
faded  silk  gowns  of  several  seasons  past,  and 
fascinating  ball-dresses  whose  first  freshness 
was  more  or  less  gone,  but  which  were  never 
theless  carefully  displayed  in  long  glass  cases 
that  lined  the  walls  of  the  room,  and  where  they 
hung  with  the  most  tempting  effect.  There  were 
old  velvet  mantles,  and  high-heeled  gilt  slippers, 
and  ostrich  feathers  of  all  colors,  and  indeed  an 
endless  confusion  of  useless  things  which  the 
daughters  of  Paris  love  and  labor  to  get,  and 


36  PIERRETTE. 

turn    to    account,  no  matter  to  what  station   in 
life  they  belong. 

In  another  part  of  the  room,  there  was  an  old 
wooden  coffer  with  a  glass  top,  in  which  Pore 
Michel  kept  his  articles  of  the  most  value. 
These  were  odd  bits  of  jewelry,  brooches, 
bracelets,  fancy  combs,  rings,  a  few  lockets, 
and  one  or  t\vo  time-pieces.  It  was  also  where 
he  kept  the  valuable  laces  that  were  brought  to 
him  to  be  repaired,  or  to  be  disposed  of  when 
they  had  served  their  time.  It  was  to  this 
coffer  that  Pere  Michel  now  turned,  having  at 
length  decided  to  answer  the  little  mother's 
question  about  more  work. 

"  Here  is  something,"  he  said,  opening  the 
chest  and  taking  from  it  a  small  mantilla  of 
"point  d'Alenc_on"  that  was  almost  in  shreds. 
"  Here  is  a  piece  of  work  that  once  belonged 
to  the  Countess  of  B.  and  is  now  the  possession 
of  Madame  de  L."  Pere  Michel  never  gave 
full  names.  "  This  enchanting  piece  of  an 
tiquity  is  itself  past  all  remedy.  I  told  Madame 
so.  The  cat  has  put  her  claws  through  it.  But 
it  is  a  choice- relic  as  it  is;  I  would  not  have 
it  mended  for  the  world ;  Madame  is  very 


Here  is  a  piece  of  work  that  once  belonged  to  the  Countess 
of  B." 


PIERRETTE.  39 

proud  of  it.  Now,  she  wishes  us  to  make  a 
new  one  from  this  model.  It  is  a  beautiful 
one,  and  I  have  the  design  and  all  the  neces 
sary  materials.  How  would  you  like  to  take 
this  with  you,  providing  you  can  promise  to 
bring  it  to  me  finished  in  two  weeks,  hark  you, 
two  weeks,  and  not  a  minute  later?" 

"  Oh,  I  should  like  it  above  all  things !  " 
cried  Elize,  in  happy  surprise.  This  was  a 
mark  of  trust  which  she  had  hardly  dared  to 
expect  from  Pere  Michel.  But  the  old  man 
was  very  shrewd.  He  knew  very  well  that 
of  all  the  people  who  worked  for  him,  there 
was  not  one  who  was  so  honest,  so  conscien 
tious,  and  withal  so  skillful,  or  who  would  be  so 
grateful  for  this  rare  piece  of  handiwork,  as  was 
Elize.  And  while  he  appeared  to  be  confer 
ring  a  great  favor  upon  her  by  placing  it  into 
her  hands,  he  was  in  reality  serving  his  best 
interests. 

"  I  promise  you  it  will  be  finished,  Monsieur 
Michel.  I  shall  work  at  it  all  the  time;  it  is 
so  beautiful,  it  will  really  be  a  pleasure,"  said 
the  young  woman,  her  pretty  face  all  flushed 
at  this  unexpected  good  fortune. 


4O  PIERRETTE. 

"  That  is  well,"  said  the  old  man,  beginning 

O  O 

to   take   the   shells   from    his    boiled   eg<is,    and 

o  o     » 

spreading  himself  comfortably  in  his  one  large 
chair.  "  Take  your  pay,  it  is  on  the  corner 
of  the  chimney;  and  you  know  where  I  keep 
the  needles  and  the  thread.  Choose  what  you 
need,  and  do  your  best;  for  Madame  de  L.  is  a 
good  patron,  as  you  know." 

Elize  did  as  she  was  bidden,  and  promised  to 
do  her  best;  and  then  she  made  a  careful 
bundle  of  the  work,  and,  giving  her  hand  to 
Pierrette,  rose  to  go. 

As  she  laid  her  hand  on  the  latch,  the  door 
opened  from  without  and  some  one  entered  at 
whom  Joy-of-My-Heart  gave  a  sudden  leap  and 
a  surly  growl,  leaving  his  attractive  place  beside 
the  egg-pot  to  bite  and  snarl  at  the  stranger's 
shoes.  The  stranger  was  unmistakably  a  gen 
tleman,  an  exquisitely  dressed  French  gentle 
man,  who  raised  his  hat  with  much  elegance, 
and  stepped  aside  to  let  Elize  and  the  little 
girl  pass  out  of  Fere  Michel's  shop. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PIERRETTE  and  her  mother  could  hardly  help 
looking  a  second  time  at  the  surprising  mon 
sieur,  whose  magnificent  appearance  in  the 
rue  des  Anges  had  indeed  brought  out  the 
whole  population  to  comment  thereupon  from 
their  doorsteps  and  windows.  Pierrette  had 
never  seen  any  one  quite  like  him  before. 
Such  a  very  tall  shining  silk  hat  as  he  wore, 
and  such  an  immensely  long  mustache  standing 
out  on  each  side  of  his  face  like  the  horns  of  a 
big  black  beetle  !  and  such  piercing  eyes  as  he 
looked  at  them  with  as  they  had  passed  him. 
It  would  not  have  been  in  the  least  surprising 
if  he  had  turned  out  to  be  the  president  him- 


42  PIERRETTE. 

self,     or    an    exiled    prince    of    the    house    of 
'  Bourbon. 

They  made  their  way  hurriedly  across  the 
court  into  the  street,  so  that  they  did  not  hear 
Pere  Michel's  greeting  of  the  fine  strange  gen 
tleman,  nor  yet  Joy-of-My-Heart's  persistent 
growls  of  discontent  as  the  new-comer  walked 
into  the  little  shop  and  seated  himself  in  a 
graceful  attitude  on  one  of  Pere  Michel's 
wooden  benches. 

"You  see  me,  Monsieur  Michel,"  said  the 
exquisite  person,  taking  a  dainty  pinch  from 
a  little  gold  snuff-box  which  he  drew  from  his 
waistcoat  pocket.  "  You  see  me  again  with  a 
request  upon  your  indulgence." 

"  I  see  you,  Monsieur  Le  Page,"  returned 
Pere  Michel,  with  a  polite  grimace,  "  with  in 
finite  regret,  if  your  request  is  of  the  same 
nature  as  when  you  honored  me  with  your  last 
visit." 

"  I  must  confess  that  it  is,"  returned  Monsieur 
Le  Page.  "  I  would  have  you  reconsider  your 
refusal.  You  know  my  reputation  in  Paris.  I 
have  the  largest  traffic,  in  our  line  of  busi 
ness,  in  the  city,  and  the  richest  and  most 


PIERRETTE.  43 

notable  patronage.  I  must  satisfy  the  caprice 
of  a  wealthy  enthusiast ;  I  resort  to  a  little 
harmless  stratagem ;  you  assist  me.  Who  is 
harmed  thereby?  No  one.  I  am  well  paid, 
and  you  receive  a  munificent  reward  for 
your  share  in  the  bargain.  Come,  Michel, 
be  reasonable  ;  do  not  lose  sight  of  your 
own  interests ;  you  have  nothing  to  lose  by 
my  proposition,"  and  he  twirled  the  ends  of 
his  long  black  mustache,  and  looked  hard  at 
the  old  man. 

"  Nothing  to  lose,  in  effect,  Monsieur,  if  I 
belonged  to  your  aristocracy,  because  I  should 
then  have  no  scruples  about  doing  a  dishonest 
thing,"  and  Pere  Michel  straightened  himself 
with  much  dignity.  "  It  may  be  difficult  for 
you  to  comprehend,  but  we  poor,  beggarly, 
toiling  creatures  whom  you  despise,  do  some 
times  have  a  grain  of  conscience,  and  that 
prevents  us  from  seeing  matters  with  your 
vision." 

"  Chut,  chut,"  rejoined  the  gentleman,  with  a   * 
suave  wave  of  his   gloved   hand,  "  that  is  talk, 
talk,    Monsieur    Michel.       You     and    I    cannot 
afford  to  talk ;   we  must  act.     Once  for  all,  will 


44  PIERRETTE. 

you  take  my  order  for  the  work  and  bind 
yourself  to  secrecy?" 

"  Assuredly  not,"  responded  Pere  Michel, 
with  grim  persistence. 

"Ah,  then  you  are  immovable?  My  good 
man,  it  is  foolish,  it  is  stupid.  You  will  regret 
your  obstinacy  some  day,  some  clay  when  it 
is  too  late,"  and  he  shrugged  his  shoulders 
impatiently,  and  trod  absently  upon  a  crawling 
spider  near  his  foot,  and  killed  it  with  that 
same  suave  expression  upon  his  face. 

"  I  shall  regret  nothing  but  the  time  I  am 
wasting  in  listening  to  you,"  said  Pere  Michel, 
dividing  his  fourth  egg  with  Joy-of-My-Heart. 

"Perhaps,  then,  you  will  be  obliging  enough 
to  address  me  to  some  one  of  your  workers 
who  may  not  share  your  scruples,  and  who 
would  be  grateful  for  the  remuneration  ?  " 

But  Pere  Michel  remained  silent,  having 
turned  his  attention  entirely  upon  the  snarling 
poodle,  which  every  now  and  then  jumped  up 
and  uttered  a  sharp  yelp  at  the  intruder,  and 
then  lay  wriggling  on  his  back  in  a  confusion 
of  egg-shells. 

"The    young    person   who    was   just    leaving 


PIERRETTE.  45 

your  shop  as  I  entered,  it  is  possible  she  may 
be  one  of  your  needle-women,  and  would  be 
glad  of  the  work.  Come,  Monsieur  Michel, 
give  me  a  little  of  your  assistance.  I  have  a 
promise  to  fulfill,  and  a  promise  is  a  weight 
upon  a  gentleman's  honor.  I  will  make  the 
offer  a  thousand  francs !  "  and  the  gentleman 
moved  a  little  closer  to  the  old  man,  and 
leaned  forward  so  that  the  waxed  ends  of 
his  mustache  barely  escaped  the  ear  of  Pere 
Michel,  and  uttered  the  last  words  in  a  most 
persuasive  whisper. 

"  Great  thunders  and  blue  lightnings !  "  ex 
claimed  Pere  Michel,  bouncing  out  of  his  chair, 
by  this  time  exasperated  to  the  point  of  quite 
losing  control  of  his  French  temper.  "  Will 
you  let  me  alone?  Will  you  go?"  and  he 
pointed  to  the  door  with  his  finger  in  a  melo 
dramatic  manner.  "  You  have  always  found 
my  abode  clean ;  pray  leave  it  as  you  find  it." 

There  was  really  nothing  for  the  elegant 
gentleman  to  do  but  to  take  himself  away, 
which  he  did  with  exquisite  grace  and  a  smile 
that  contrasted  oddly  with  the  red,  indignant 
face  of  old  Michel,  who  stood  with  his  arm 


40  PIERRETTE. 

still  uplifted,  like  an  avenging  spirit,  until  the 
door  had  closed  behind  his  visitor. 

Monsieur  Le  Page  stepped  lightly  over  the 
mud  in  the  court,  toying  with  his  cane  the 
while,  wearing  that  same  mild  expression  of 
countenance  which  never  forsook  him,  even 
under  much,  more  trying  encounters  than  the 
one  he  had  just  had  with  Pere  Michel.  He  did 
not  turn  around  to  see  the  old  tradesman  shak 
ing  his  fat  fist  at  him  and  muttering  between  his 
teeth,  "  Ah,  le  monstre  !  " 

Monsieur  Le  Page  was  a  man  of  large  inter 
ests,  the  proprietor  of  one  of  the  richest  and 
most  noted  antiquary  shops  of  Paris.  His  busi 
ness  often  took  him  into  the  very  poor  and 
obscure  quarters  of  the  city,  where  he,  in  some 
mysterious  way,  unearthed  many  of  his  choicest 
treasures  which  the  true  lovers  of  antiquity 
came  from  all  parts  of  Europe  to  admire  and 
purchase,  providing  their  wealth  was  great 
enough.  He  often  had  to  encounter  much 
that  was  disagreeable  and  repugnant  to  him, 
when  he  came  in  contact  with  that  low,  igno 
rant  portion  of  Paris.  But  he  nevertheless 
maintained  a  polite  and  gentlemanly  demeanor. 


"Ah,  le  monstre! " 


PIERRETTE.  49 

It  was  all  a  necessary  means  to  his  prosperity ; 
his  traffic  could  not  dispense  with  it,  and  he  was 
willing  to  sacrifice  everything,  even  his  own 
personal  feelings,  to  the  success  of  his  business. 
Therefore  as  he  passed  the  great  iron  gateway 
of  Pere  Michel's  court,  and  turned  into  the  rue 
des  Anges,  he  only  dusted  the  bottom  of  his 
trousers  a  little  more  than  usual,  and  scraped 
the  soles  of  his  shoes  a  little  longer,  as  if  by 
so  doing  he  were  ridding  himself  of  some 

o  o 

obnoxious  contact. 

As  luck  would  have  it,  just  as  he  was  about 
to  hail  a  passing  cab,  he  caught  sight  of  Elize's 
slender  black  figure,  with  the  child's  hand  in 
hers,  just  disappearing  at  the  other  end  of  the 
street.  They  had  loitered  a  little  on  their  way, 
for  Pierrette's  eyes  could  not  help  looking  at 
the  fascinating  shop-windows.  They  had  stopped 
at  the  bakery,  too,  to  buy  a  couple  of  "  petits 
pains"  and  a  sweet  bun  or  two,  and  they  had 
entered  one  of  those  delectable  little  charcutcries, 
or  French  meat-shops,  where  the  most  savory 
of  cooked  meats  are  temptingly  displayed  on 
immaculate  paper  with  festooned  edges,  and 
garnished  all  around  with  bits  of  green  parsley 
4 


5O  PIERRETTE. 

and  red  peppers  and  crisp  \vatcr-cress.  Here 
they  had  bought  something  for  their  dinner,  for 
on  the  days  when  Pere  Michel  paid  them  they 
must  always  make  a  little  feast  and  take  home 
something  out  of  the  common,  some  little  dainty 
which  they  shared  with  their  old  neighbor 
Jeanneton.  They  were  very  young  at  heart, 
Pierrette  and  her  little  mother,  these  two  chil 
dren  of  Paris! — young  enough  to  enjoy  the 
simple  pleasures  that  came  in  their  way.  Too 
young  perhaps  to  be  launched  alone  in  a  great 
brilliant  city  full  of  dangers  and  temptations. 
But  they  had  no  thought  of  that  to-day ;  they 
were  happy  because  Pere  Michel  had  not  found 
fault,  and  had  given  more  work ;  and  they  were 
safe  and  provided  for,  at  least  for  two  weeks  to 
come. 

The  strange  gentleman  hastened  his  steps  and 
caught  up  with  them  just  in  time  to  sec  them 
leaving  the  broad  avenue  that  fronts  the  palace 
and  gardens  of  the  Luxembourg,  and  turn  into 
a  narrow  street  where,  after  a  few  minutes'  walk, 
they  reached  their  own  door.  They  crossed 
the  dark  passage-way  and  climbed  the  long 
flights  of  dingy  stairs,  not  aware  that  any  one 


PIERRETTE.  5 1 

was  watching  them.  Monsieur  Le  Page  had 
kept  himself  at  a  judicious  distance ;  but  now 
he  knew  where  the  young  ouvrttre  lived,  in 
spite  of  old  Michel,  and  he  was  satisfied.  He 
rode  back  across  the  city,  to  his  grand  establish 
ment  in  the  rue  cle  Rivoli,  well  pleased  with  his 
morning's  errand. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


IT  was  nearly  two  weeks  since  Pierrette  and 
her  mother  had  come  away  from  Pore  Michel's 
shop  with  the  old  lace  mantilla  ;  and,  true  to  her 
promise,  Elize  had  worked  day  and  night,  and 
scarcely  rested  until  the  beautiful  piece  \vas  fin 
ished.  She  was  very  weary.  Her  pretty  eyes 
were  red  with  straining  them,  and  her  head 
ached,  ached  and  burned  as  if  it  were  on  fire. 
The  exquisite  work  was  a  masterpiece,  and 
would  have  brought  her  a  small  fortune  if  she 
had  not  been  such  a  timid  little  woman,  known 
to  very  few  people,  and  so  very  distrustful  of 
her  own  skill  that  she  felt  quite  repaid  if  those 
who  employed  her  did  not  scold,  never  dream 
ing  of  any  praise  from  any  one  but  little 
Pierrette. 


PIERRETTE.  53 

Hidden  away  there  in  her  high  garret,  she 
never  suspected  that  the  delicate,  exquisite 
work  of  her  fingers  had  found  its  way  into 
many  of  the  great  and  rich  homes  of  Paris, 
and  had  been  admired  and  marvelled  at.  How 
many  of  those  lovely  creations  which  we  look 
upon  with  pleasure  are  fashioned  in  some 
dark,  dingy  room  in  some  remote  quarter  of 
a  great  city,  by  some  obscure  craftsman  whose 
lot  it  may  never  be  even  to  enter  the  places 
where  the  fruit  of  his  toil  is  welcomed  and 
cherished  ! 

Elize  was  too  \veary  that  morning  to  walk 
to  Pere  Michel's,  and  Pierrette  had  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  carry  the  finished  work  to  him.  It 
was  still  very  early,  and  the  little  girl,  all 
wrapped  in  her  hood  and  cloak,  —  for  it  was 
beginning  to  be  very  wintry,  —  was  just  emerg 
ing  from  the  big  stone  portal,  with  her  precious 
bundle  in  her  arms,  when  she  was  met  by  a 
gentleman,  strangely  enough,  the  same  gentle 
man  whom  she  had  seen  going  into  Pere 
Michel's  some  two  weeks  ago.  Yes,  it  was  un 
mistakably  he, —  the  same  elegant  clothes,  the 
same  glistening  black  eyes  and  long  mustache, 


54  PIERRETTE. 

the  same  air  of  graciousness  as  he  bent  down 
and  addressed  Pierrette. 

"  My  amiable  child,"  he  said,  laying  his  fine 
gloved  hand  upon  the  little  red  hood,  "  upon 
what  errand  are  you  bound  so  early  this  wintry 
morning?  It  is  a  raw,  chill  time  for  little  peo 
ple  like  you  to  be  abroad." 

Pierrette  felt  a  thrill  of  delight  as  the  hand 
some  gentleman  who  so  much  resembled  a 
prince  touched  her  cheek  and  looked  kindly 
into  her  eyes. 

"  I  am  on  my  way  to  Pere  Michel's  to  return 
the  lace  for  maman.  Maman  is  not  well ;  she 
has  stitched  so  much  her  head  is  .very  tired," 
said  the  child,  innocently. 

"  Ah,  maman  does  the  lace  work  for  Monsieur 
Michel?  Indeed  !  Now,  that  is  a  great  pity, 
for  Michel  is  a  hard-hearted  old  brute.  Perhaps 
you  would  let  me  look  at  maman's  work.  If  it 
pleased  me  I  would  furnish  her  plenty  of  em 
ployment,  and  pay  her  five  times  as  much  as 
Monsieur  Michel." 

"  Oh,  certainly,  Monsieur,"  said  Pierrette, 
eagerly  untying  her  bundle.  "  Maman  would 
be  very  happy,  I  am  sure." 


;  She  was  just  emerging  from  the  big  stone  portal,  with  her 
precious  bundle  in  her  arms." 


PIERRETTE.  57 

They  stepped  into  the  court  a  few  paces, 
and  the  gentleman  took  up  the  piece  of  work  in 
his  hands  and  examined  it  very  carefully,  saying 
now  and  then,  "  Marvellous  !  extremely  ancient, 
exquisite !  "  and  then  he  wrapped  it  up  with 
great  care,  and  gave  it  back  to  Pierrette,  saying, 
"  It  is  well ;  I  shall  go  up  and  see  your  maman 
immediately,  if  you  will  tell  me  where  I  may 
find  her." 

Pierrette  led  him  to  the  first  turn  in  the 
spiral  stairway,  at  the  top  of  which  there  was 
a  miserable  little  sky-light  whose  feeble  rays 
of  light  were  quite  lost  by  the  time  they  had 
descended  to  the  middle  floors,  and  she  pointed 
up  to  it. 

"  On  the  eighth  floor,  Monsieur,  the  fifth  door 
to  the  left,"  she  said. 

"  I  must  caution  you,"  added  Monsieur  Le 
Page,  as  Pierrette  was  taking  leave  of  him,  "  not 
to  mention  to  Pere  Michel  what  I  have  said 
to  you  this  morning,  or  that  I  have  been  here 
at  all." 

"  Indeed,  I  will  not,  if  Monsieur  so  wishes  it," 
said  Pierrette,  who  was  naturally  an  obedient 
child,  and  who  had  always  been  taught  that 


58  PIERRETTE. 

when  she  was  forbidden  anything  it  \vas  because 
of  some  very  good  reason. 

Monsieur  Le  Page  then  waved  his  hand  to 
her  and  smiled,  and  began  his  steep  ascent  up 
the  eight  flights  of  steps,  while  the  little  girl 
sped  on  her  way  to  the  rue  des  Anges,  her  little 
head  full  of  pleasant  fancies  about  the  astonish 
ing  gentleman  who  had  appeared  to  her  in  the 
light  of  a  fairy  prince  indeed.  She  did  not  stop 
to  look  into  the  shop-windows  this  morning  ; 
her  mind  was  too  busy  trying  to  imagine  what 
good  fortune  would  come  to  them  if  this  rich 
and  handsome  monsieur  became  their  patron 
instead  of  Pere  Michel,  who  was  exacting  and 
not  always  easy  to  please,  and  who  paid  very 
little  money  for  a  great  deal  of  work.  Then 
maman  would  not  have  to  work  so  hard  to  earn 
the  money  for  what  they  needed,  and  she  might 
have  all  the  little  comforts  she  wanted.  For 
although  Pierrette  was  only  a  little  girl,  the 
problem  of  life  was  already  a  serious  thing  to 
her,  as  it  is  to  most  children  who  are  brought 
up  in  an  atmosphere  of  necessity.  The  little 
mother  had  taken  Pierrette  into  her  confidence 
in  everything.  Whom  else  had  she  to  help  her 


PIERRETTE.  59 

to  bear  the  burden  of  responsibility  of  their  two 
young  lives!  And  the  little  girl  had  always 
proved  herself  a  reasonable  and  helpful  little 
companion. 

When  Monsieur  Le  Page  had  reached  the  top 
of  the  house,  he  was  obliged  to  pause  a  few 
minutes  to  catch  his  breath,  before  rapping 
gently  with  his  gloved  knuckles  at  the  fifth  door 
on  the  left,  —  the  door  of  the  little  attic.  Elize 
appeared  at  once,  looking  as  neat  and  dainty  as 
any  little  lady,  in  her  well-fitting  black  serge  and 
white  apron.  She  was  busy  preparing  the  cafc- 
an-lait  for  Pierrette's  breakfast,  on  a  little  spirit 
lamp,  and  steeping  some  tisane  for  her  head 
ache.  Her  pretty  face  was  pale  ;  but  it  flushed 
up  suddenly  when,  on  opening  the  door  in 
answer  to  the  rapping,  she  saw  the  strange 
gentleman. 

"A  thousand  pardons,  Madame,"  said  the 
polite  visitor,  taking  notice  of  Elize's  confusion. 
"  Pray  do  not  let  me  disturb  you  from  your 
breakfast.  You  do  not  know  me,  it  is  evident. 
My  name  is  Joseph  Le  Page.  I  am  come  to 
ask  a  favor,  —  a  little  business  favor.  You  will 
honor  me  by  giving  me  your  attention  for  a 
verv  few  minutes." 


60  PIERRETTE. 

"Monsieur  Le  Page!"  repeated  Elize,  in  as 
tonishment.  She  did  not  know  him  personally, 
she  only  remembered  having  met  him  that  once 
coming  out  of  Pere  Michel's  door.  But  she 
knew  the  name  well.  Who  in  Paris  did  not !  - 
the  rich  dealer  in  old  treasures  and  works  of 
art,  whose  fine  establishment  occupied  an  envi 
able  portion  of  the  brilliant  rue  de  Rivoli,  under 
those  old  arcades  immediately  facing  the  Tuil- 
eries  gardens.  Every  one  knew  his  name,  knew 
his  wealth,  had  seen  or  heard  of  the  little  palace 
that  was  his  home  on  the  broad  road  to  the 
Bois  de  Boulogne.  And  this  was  he  standing 
before  her,  in  her  little  garret-room,  to  ask  a 
favor  of  her  ! 

"  Monsieur  is  exceedingly  good,"  said  Elize, 
in  pretty  confusion,  and  drawing  a  chair  for 
him.  "  I  do  not  understand  in  what  way  I 
may  do  Monsieur  a  favor,  but  I  am  entirely  at 
his  service." 

Monsieur  Le  Page  sat  down,  and  again  drew 
forth  his  little  gold  snuff-box.  He  could  hardly 
ever  get  on  in  any  delicate  matter  of  business 
without  this  small  talisman.  He  was  in  reality 
wondering  how  he  should  broach  the  subject  of 


PIERRETTE.  6 1 

his  visit  to  a  simple,  womanly  little  person  like 
Elize.  He  saw,  with  his  naturally  fine  percep 
tion,  that  although  Elize  was  poor  and  belonged 
to  a  lower  condition  of  society  than  himself, 
there  was  an  atmosphere  of  delicacy  and  refine 
ment  about  her  and  all  that  belonged  to  her. 
He  knew,  by  the  look  in  her  candid  gray  eyes, 
that  she  was  incapable  of  lending  herself  to  any 
fraudulent  proceeding,  that  those  calm  eyes 
might  light  up  in  anger  at  any  suggestion  of 
wrong-dealing.  He  must  be  very  circumspect 
and  approach  her  very  cautiously.  Just  now, 
she  was  all  modesty  and  gratitude  towards  him 
for  his  condescension  in  coming  to  find  her, — 
a  simple,  obscure,  unknown  little  ouvrierc  like 
her! 

"  Madame  is  an  artiste  at  her  trade,"  said  the 
handsome  gentleman,  "  I  have  seen  her  work 
manship  ;  it  is  exquisite ;  such  perfection  in 
every  detail,  such  delicacy  !  " 

Elize  blushed  for  pleasure. 

"You  have  lately  come  to  Paris?  "  inquired 
Monsieur  Le  Page,  with  a  show  of  interest. 

"  We  have  been  here  five  years,  Pierrette  and 
I,  Monsieur." 


62  PIERRETTE. 

"  Five  years !  it  is  incredible  that  I  should 
not  have  found  you  out  before, —  such  a  skill 
ful  worker.  There  are  plenty  of  people  who 
work  in  lace,  Madame,  indeed  the  city  is  full 
of  them,  but  there  are  not  many  who  work 
like  you.  Where  did  you  learn  the  art, 
Madame?" 

"  I  had  it  of  my  mother  when  very  young," 
said  Elize,  simply,  "  she  had  acquired  her 
knowledge  at  the  convent." 

Monsieur  Le  Page  mused  a  moment,  and  then 
resumed,  "With  the  proper  patronage  it  is  pos 
sible  for  you  to  make  a  very  good  income,  I 
might  truly  say  a  little  fortune,  in  a  city  where 
the  best  of  everything  is  sought  and  appre 
ciated  as  it  is  in  Paris." 

At  these  words  Elize's  heart  began  to  beat 
very  fast.  A  fair,  vague  vision  rose  before  her. 
Had  it  not  been  her  one  great  hope  that  some 
time,  in  this  vast  city  of  Paris,  she  would  be 
found  out,  and  her  work  recognized  and  appre 
ciated,  that  some  time,  through  the  labor  of  her 
loving  hands,  she  and  Pierrette  would  be  made 
comfortable  and  happy,  and  perhaps  be  able  to 
buy  again  the  little  home  at  Meudon,  and  go 


PIERRETTE.  63 

back  to  the  dear  country  to  live  among  the  birds 
and  flowers  ! 

Monsieur  Le  Page  was  watching  her  closely 
to  see  what  effect  his  words  produced.  He 
wanted,  first  of  all,  to  win  her  confidence,  and 
make  her  believe  thoroughly  in  his  power  to 
help  her. 

"  And  you  have  been  spending  these  five 
years  toiling  for  that  old  miser,  Michel  !  Ah, 
if  I  had  but  known  it!" 

"  It  is  only  three  years  that  I  have  worked  for 
Monsieur  Michel.  For  a  long  time  we  knew 
no  one,  and  it  was  hard  to  get  anything  to  do. 
I  was  very  grateful  for  the  little  money  that  he 
let  me  earn,"  said  Elizc.  She  felt  that  she  could 
almost  smile  now,  at  all  her  past  hardships,  so 
bright  and  promising  did  he  make  the  future 
seem  for  them. 

"  And  he  has  kept  you  hidden,  and  not 
allowed  anyone  to  know  you,  the  old  rascal! 
It  is  like  him.  He  will  be  mightily  vexed  when 
he  hears  that  I  have  discovered  you  and  your 
lovely  work,  in  spite  of  him,  and  that  I  have 
made  you  a  fine  offer.  Nevertheless,"  pursued 
Monsieur  Le  Page,  resting  his  temple  on  his 


64  PIERRETTE. 

forefinger,  in  a  meditative  attitude,  "  we  must 
not  unduly  aggravate  the  old  man.  An  eccen 
tric  old  personage  like  Pere  Michel,  is  some 
times  dangerous,  and  his  ill-will  is  not  to  be 
disposed  of  at  any  price.  It  would  not  be 
pleasant  for  you  to  offend  him,  perhaps." 

"  I  would  not  offend  Monsieur  Michel  for  the 
world,"  said  Elize,  with  genuine  sincerity.  "  He 
has  been  very  kind  to  us  in  his  way;  and 
although  he  pays  but  little,  I  hardly  know  what 
we  should  have  done  without  that  little." 

"  That  is  quite  reasonable,"  complied  Mon 
sieur  Le  Page  ;  "  the  simplest  way  is  not  to  men 
tion  the  matter  to  him  at  all ;  "  to  which  Klize 
agreed,  for  she  knew  no  reason  why  she  should 
not  keep  her  affairs  to  herself.  She  was  natu 
rally  a  quiet,  reserved,  little  person.  They  had 
but  few  friends  in  the  neighborhood;  Pere 
Michel  was  really  the  only  person  whom  they 
saw  often,  and  he  was  not  inclined  to  be  over 
interested  in  anything  besides  the  sale  and  pur 
chase  of  his  own  wares  and  his  ugly  poodle. 

"  And  now,"  said  the  merchant,  feeling  that 
he  had  quite  won  the  little  woman's  sympathy, 
"  I  want  you  to  do  for  me  a  real  piece  of  antique. 


PIERRETTE.  65 

We  deal  only  in  antiquities.  The  ladies  are 
crazy  after  them ;  they  will  have  nothing  but 
the  oldest  patterns  in  laces,  and  they  come  to 
me  for  them,  because  they  know  that  we  have 
the  means  of  securing  the  genuine  article,  the 
most  delicate  and  rarest  handiwork  that  can  be 
had  in  the  city.  You  have  models  of  ancient 
pieces,  did  I  understand  you  to  say?" 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Elize,  "  I  have  some  very 
old  models,  and  I  have  studied  them  all." 

"  You  will  be  good  enough  to  show  me  some 
of  them,  and  we  shall  then  make  a  selection." 

Elize  drew  a  little  key  from  her  pocket  and 
opened  a  small  wooden  chest  where  she  kept 
her  few  treasures.  She  took  from  it  a  roll  of 
very  yellow  pieces  of  parchment  upon  which 
were  traced  innumerable  little  holes,  so  close 
and  so  intricate  that  only  the  most  carefully 
trained  eye  could  have  discerned  the  graceful 
pattern  that  it  was  made  to  represent. 

Monsieur  Le  Page  put  on  his  gold-rimmed 
eye-glasses,  and  began  to  unfold  and  inspect 
them  one  by  one. 

"  Ah,    this    is  chaste !  "    he    exclaimed,   with 
genuine  enthusiasm,  as  his  eye  fell  upon  a  very 
5 


66  PIERRETTE. 

ancient-looking  piece,  yellower  and  more  worn 
than  the  rest,  "  this  is  superb !  A  device,  I 
should  judge,  of  no  later  than  the  seventeenth 
century.  Quite  such  a  piece  as  I  have  been 
looking  for;  very  ancient  indeed  !  " 

"Yes,  this  is  the  oldest  of  all  the  designs. 
I  think  it  is  a  very  rare  pattern.  It  was  left 
me  by  my  grandmother,  who  herself  had  it 
of  a  woman  who  was  lace-maker  to  one  of 
our  queens  many  years  ago,  I  cannot  tell  you 
how  many." 

The  antiquarian  could  hardly  suppress  his 
agitation.  He  was  not  given  ordinarily  to  vio 
lent  betrayal  of  any  emotion.  But — it  may 
have  been  because  of  his  great  love  and  vener 
ation  for  all  that  was  old  —  his  fingers  certainly 
did  tremble  as  he  separated  the  parchment  from 
the  other  sheets,  and  said  in  a  tone  that  had  a 
little  more  animation  in  it  than  usual,  — 

"  This  must  be  the  one ;  we  shall  choose  no 
other  for  the  present.  I  will  trouble  you  for  not 
more  than  two  such  pieces  a  year,  possibly  not 
more  than  one.  But  I  will  pay  you  liberally. 
For  this  one,  I  will  offer  you  the  sum  of  one 
thousand  francs." 


PIERRETTE.  67 

"  Oh,  Monsieur !  "  cried  Elize,  clasping  her 
hands,  and  almost  ready  to  fall  at  his  feet,  "  you 
are  too  good  !  " 

"  One  thousand  francs,"  repeated  Monsieur 
Le  Page,  with  crisp  utterance,  and  not  appearing 
to  notice  the  little  mother's  surprise.  "  I  will 
also  furnish  the  materials,  for  the  pearls  must  be 
of  the  very  choicest,  and  pay  you  two  hundred 
francs  in  advance  each  month  until  the  work  is 
done." 

Innocent,  trustful  little  Elize,  she  thought  she 
had  never  seen  any  one  so  beautiful  or  so 
benevolent,  so  magnanimous,  as  this  slight  gen 
tleman  with  his  pale  face  and  thin  features  and 
searching  black  eyes.  She  could  only  account 
for  the  generosity  of  his  heart  by  the  prompt 
ings  of  her  own,  if  she  had  been  rich  and  had 
seen  some  fellow-creature  in  need. 

"  You  are  munificent,  Monsieur,"  was  all  that 
she  could  say,  when  suddenly  the  door  opened 
and  Pierrette  came  in-with  rosy  cheeks  and  fly 
ing  curls,  and  eyes  dancing  with  the  freshness 
of  the  morning  She  ran  into  her  mother's 
arms,  and  Elize  laid  her  head  on  the  little  girl's 
neck  and  wept  for  joy. 


68  PIERRETTE. 

"  Maman,  maman,  what  is  it?"  cried  the 
child. 

"  Oh,  Monsieur  is  so  good,  so  kind  to  us, 
Pierrette;  thank  him  for  me,  I  cannot." 

Monsieur  Le  Page,  perhaps  made  a  little 
uncomfortable  by  the  pathos  of  the  scene, 
promptly  took  his  leave,  and  promised  to  return 
on  the  following  day.  For  the  first  time  in  his 
life,  as  he  descended  the  dark  stairway,  he  had 
an  ugly  feeling  somewhere  in  the  remote  locality 
of  his  conscience.  He  could  not  account  for  it 
to  himself;  but  he  felt  as  if  he  had  just  crushed 
some  innocent  creature  with  his  foot,  and  gone 
off  and  left  it  dying  ;  and  he  almost  wished  that 
he  had  not  met  Pierrette  and  her  mother  coming 
out  of  Pere  Michel's  that  morning. 


CHAPTER   V. 


WHAT  a  happy  prosperous  time  was  now 
dawning  for  the  little  mother  and  Pierrette  !  It 
seemed  as  if  they  had  been  suddenly  led  by 
some  kind  fortune  into  a  ne\v  world  where  every 
thing  was  bright  and  peaceful.  They  would 
never  again  need  to  be  anxious ;  there  would 
be  no  more  want  and  suffering;  they  would 
always  have  enough  to  be  comfortable, —  enough 
for  themselves  and  enough  for  others,  perhaps. 
Two  hundred  francs  a  month  seemed  such  a 
fortune  for  two  little  souls  who  had  been  ac 
customed  to  do  with  a  few  sous  a  day.  And 
it  had  all  come  to  them  in  a  moment,  as  in 
fairy-land,  through  this  kind  gentleman  who 


7O  PIERRETTE. 

had  sought  them  out  and  brought  such  a  wealth 
of  happiness  into  their  little  home. 

Pierrette  and  her  little  mother  laughed  and 
cried  and  kissed  each  other  many  times  after 
Monsieur  Le  Page  had  gone,  and  prayed  in 
their  simple  hearts  that  Heaven  would  bless  the 
saintly  gentleman,  and  keep  and  prosper  him 
always  because  of  his  goodness. 

The  season  was  advancing  very  fast,  and 
Paris  grew  cold  and  gray ;  but  Pierrette  and  the 
little  mother  had  never  thought  the  city  looked 
so  beautiful,  for  they  minded  not  the  snow  and 
sleet  without,  when  there  was  a  cheerful  fire 
within,  and  their  hearts  were  warm  with  hope 
and  gratitude.  Klize  began  to  look  younger 
and  prettier  than  ever,  if  that  were  possible, 
with  the  sweet  pink  color  returned  to  her  cheeks 
and  a  deeper  warmth  in  her  gray  eyes.  And 
Pierrette  was  so  full  of  joyous  spirits,  and  her 
little  tongue  was  so  active,  that  even  grumbling 
old  Jeanneton  said,  when  she  came  in  to  see  her, 
that  it  was  as  if  a  sunbeam  had  entered  the 
room. 

"  It  is  very  easy  to  be  good  when  one  is 
happy,  is  it  not,  petite  mere?"  said  Pierrette, 


Even  grumbling  old  Jeanneton  said,  when  she  came  in,  that  it 
was  as  if  a  sunbeam  had  entered  the  room." 


PIERRETTE.  73 

when  she  had  been  especially  lavish  in  her  at 
tentions  to  the  sick  old  woman,  and  had  taken 
a  portion  of  their  warm  supper  to  the  chiffonnier 
who  lived  on  the  floor  below,  and  who  was  laid 
up  with  rheumatism  in  his  bones  from  having 
been  out  so  much  in  the  damp  and  cold. 

"  Yes,  my  Pierrette,  if  one's  heart  is  made  for 
goodness,  then  prosperity  makes  it  grow  richer 
and  better,  as  the  warm  spring  sunshine  makes 
the  young  flowers  sweeter  and  more  beautiful. 
You  will  always  think  of  others,  will  you  not, 
Pierrette,  no  matter  how  happy  you  are 
yourself  ?  " 

"  Yes,  petite  mere,  I  will  try  to  be  always  as 
good  as  you,  as  good  as  Monsieur  Le  Page," 
said  the  child,  who  regarded  the  handsome  gen 
tleman  as  the  author  of  all  their  good  fortune. 

As  for  Monsieur  Le  Page  himself,  his  thoughts, 
if  he  took  the  trouble  to  give  them  shape  at  all, 
were  not  such  simple  and  artless  ones  as  the 
little  girl's  and  her  mamma's.  For  many  days 
and  weeks  he  could  not  forget  the  sight  of  the 
pretty  child  and  the  sweet  young  mother  weep 
ing  in  each  other's  arms, —  weeping  because  of 
his  goodness  to  them.  For  a  second,  perhaps 


74  PIERRETTE. 

the  first  time  in  his  life,  he  had  hesitated.  The 
thought  had  flashed  across  his  mind  that  per 
haps  it  would  be  better,  better  for  them,  if  he 
did  not  return  to  them  on  the  following  day  to 
fulfill  his  promise;  but  then  it  had  been  only 
for  one  second.  What  had  he  to  do  with  senti 
mental  scruples?  He  was  a  business  man,  full 
of  busy  interests;  he  could  not,  for  the  sake  of 
an  ignorant  little  woman  and  a  pretty  child, 
sacrifice  a  great  gain.  It  was  absurd  even  to 
think  of  it;  besides  it  could  mean  no  harm  to 
them  as  long  as  they  remained  ignorant ;  and 
he  would  see  that  they  remained  in  ignorance 
of  his  schemes.  He  would  not  be  as  frank  with 
them  as  he  had  been  with  Pere  Michel;  he 
would  not,  if  he  could,  dispel  their  little  illusion 
about  him,  and  they  should  never  have  cause  to 
think  him  otherwise  than  good. 

Strange  it  was  that  this  man  who  had  spent 
most  of  his  life  in  thinking  of  himself,  and  caring 
nothing  for  what  the  rest  of  the  world  thought 
of  him,  except  that  it  should  know  him  to  be 
wealthy  and  therefore  powerful,  who  had  known 
no  other  love  in  all  his  life  but  the  love  of  gain, 
should  of  a  sudden  care  to  retain  the  admiration 


PIERRETTE.  75 

and  confidence  of  these  simple  young  creatures. 
It  amazed  and  puzzled  him,  and  as  often  as 
these  thoughts  came  to  him,  he  would  dismiss 
them ;  but  they  came  back  to  him  again  and 
again,  like  gentle  spirits  that  will  not  be  repelled. 
Through  the  busy  hours  of  the  day,  in  the  soli 
tary  grandeur  of  his  home  at  night,  the  picture 
of  those  two  young  faces  rose  before  him,  with 
their  innocence  and  trust  appealing  to  him,  and 
at  length  he  almost  wished  that  he  had  not  to 
deceive  them,  that  he  might  be  and  that  he 
had  been  all  his  life  as  good  and  noble  as 
they  believed  him. 

It  is  a  great  thing  to  wish  to  become  good ; 
to  have  even  a  desire  for  justice  and  honesty  is 
the  better  part  of  the  battle ;  and  to  have 
strength  and  determination  enough  to  obtain 
these  virtues,  after  having  lived  a  life  of  error,  is 
to  become  indeed  a  great  conqueror. 

Monsieur  Le  Page  was  thirty-eight  years  old. 
Half  of  his  life,  or  very  nearly  half  of  it,  had 
been  spent  in  the  pursuit  of  his  own  happiness. 
To  become  good  all  at  once,  to  give  up  his 
selfish  habits  and  little  intrigues  for  gain,  of 
which  he  had  never  before  been  ashamed,  meant 


76  PIERRETTE. 

a  great  deal  that  was  disagreeable,  and  a  mighty 
struggle  for  his  better  self.  Monsieur  Le  Page 
did  not  like  struggles.  He  preferred  that  every 
thing  which  came  to  him  should  come  easily, 
as  his  fortune  had  done.  He  had  really  never 
thought  before  that  his  conduct  needed  reform 
ing.  What  he  did  was  only  what  thousands  of 
others  were  doing,  or  would  do  if  they  were 
in  his  place.  Still  he  felt  that  the  little  woman 
whose  candid  eyes  had  met  his  so  trustfully 
would  hardly  approve  his  dealings,  and  still  less 
give  her  aid  to  further  them ;  and  he  wished 
that  nothing  to  his  discredit  should  ever  reach 
her  ears.  Every  time  he  visited  the  small  dark 
garret,  which  was  perhaps  oftener  than  once  a 
month,  for  he  was  quite  anxious  about  the  pro 
gress  of  the  work,  the  feeling  in  him  grew 
stronger  that  these  two,  in  all  their  ignorance 
and  youth,  were  powerful,  while  he,  with  his 
wealth  and  knowledge,  was  wreak.  He  would 
always  place  the  money  which  he  brought  in  pay 
ment  for  the  work  upon  the  mantel.  Somehow  he 
could  not  find  the  heart  to  put  it  in  that  honest 
little  woman's  hand.  And  whenever  Pierrette 
looked  up  at  him  with  her  round  childish  eyes, 


PIERRETTE.  77 

and  said,  "  Oh,  Monsieur,  you  are  so  good ! 
You  have  made  maman  so  happy !  "  there  was 
an  uncomfortable  consciousness  that  he  was 
hardly  deserving  that  childish  trust. 

How  beautiful  a  thing  is  the  trustfulness  of 
youth ;  how  powerful  a  thing  it  is  when  it  can 
change  the  current  of  a  life,  and  by  its  sweet 
unconscious  influence  turn  a  human  heart  from 
its  sordid  and  selfish  ends  to  a  just  conscious 
ness  of  right  and  truth  ! 


CHAPTER   VI. 

ONE  bright  morning  in  December,  it  was  very 
near  the  Christmas  time,  Pierrette  and  her 
mother  were  on  their  way  to  church.  It  was 
a  saint's  day,  and  they  were  going  to  attend  the 
later  mass  at  the  beautiful  old  church  of  Saint- 
Germain  des  Pres,  which  was  only  a  short  walk 
from  where  they  lived.  It  was  a  clear,  brisk, 
sunny  morning,  and  Paris  is  always  gay  when 
the  sun  shines.  The  bright-colored  omnibuses, 
with  their  crowds  of  lively  people  a-top  of  them  ; 
the  cabmen  dashing  by,  cracking  their  whips 
in  the  air;  the  busy  tradespeople  doing  their 
best  to  entice  those  whom  the  pleasant  weather 
had  brought  out  of  doors  ;  artists  looking  from 
their  high  windows  and  whistling  lustily  over 
their  work ;  young  students  hanging,  with  books 


PIERRETTE.  79 

in  hand,  at  the  window  of  some  old  curiosity- 
shop  on  their  way  to  the  Sorbonnc,  —  all  of 
which  made  a  very  active  scene  in  that  most  active 
portion  of  Paris  known  as  the  Latin  Quarter. 

Pierrette  and  her  mother  walked  with  light 
steps  and  joyous  hearts,  for  they  felt  that  they 
had  their  full  share  of  the  morning's  blessings. 
The  day  before  Monsieur  Le  Page  had  been  to 
see  them,  and  had  left  a  large  gold  coin  which 
he  said  was  for  Pierrette,  as  it  was  nearing 
Christmas  time,  and  the  little  girl  would  wish, 
no  doubt,  for  some  of  the  pretty  things  which 
the  shops  offered  at  that  season,  and  might 
perhaps  want  to  make  her  young  maman  some 
little  gift  to  celebrate  the  feast,  and  he  wanted 
to  gratify  her  wishes.  He  had  no  one  at  his 
home  whom  he  could  please  with  a  gift,  —  no 
little  girl,  no  relatives  of  any  kind,  no  one  but 
himself,  and  he  was  getting  tired  of  pleasing 
himself  he  said. 

Pierrette's  first  thought  had  been,  not  of  what 
she  should  get  for  herself,  for  she  was  accus 
tomed  to  giving  up  the  simple  pleasures  that 
most  children  enjoy,  but  of  how,  with  her  treas 
ure,  she  should  first  of  all  buy  something  that 


SO  PIERRETTE. 

the  little  mother  wanted  very  much,  and  with 
the  rest  she  should  get  a  few  things  that  would 
please  and  surprise  her  friends  in  the  neighbor 
hood.  There  was  the  old  chiffonnier,  who  really 
needed  some  flannel  for  his  rheumatism;  and 
poor  little  Francois,  the  hunchback,  who  painted 
all  day  long  at  those  wretched,  cheap  little  bon 
bon  boxes,  he  must  have  a  new  box  of  colors, 
which  he  could  ill-afford  to  buy  with  the  few 
sous  he  earned.  And  for  old  Jeanneton,  she 
would  buy  some  good  tea  to  make  her  better- 
natured;  and  the  canary  should  have  a  brand- 
new  cage  with  gilded  wires,  and  a  leaf  of  fresh 
lettuce  every  day,  so  that  he,  too,  might  have 
a  share  in  her  good  fortune. 

Pierrette' was  telling  all  this  to  her  mamma, 
as  they  made  their  way  through  the  narrow 
streets  leading  to  the  church  of  Saint-Germain  ; 
and  Elize  was  smiling  with  pleasure  at  the 
child's  unselfish  delight  in  what  she  would  do 
for  others. 

"  But  you  must  get  something  for  yourself, 
my  Pierrette,"  said  the  young  mother;  "  and 
what  shall  it  be?  " 

"  Oh,  petite  mere,"  cried  Pierrette,  laughing, 


PIERRETTE.  8 1 

"  I  shall  not  want  to  buy  anything  for  myself; 
I  am  getting  too  old  for  toys  and  dolls,"  and 
she  smiled  a  demure  little  smile  that  amused 
her  mother  greatly.  "  I  would  so  much  rather 
buy  something  for  you,  —  something  that  you 
have  wanted  very  much,  and  wished  you  had 
many  times ;  you  can  never  guess  what  it  is, 
and  you  will  be  so  surprised  when  you  see  it!  " 
and  she  clapped  her  hands  merrily  in  her  en 
joyment  of  the  thought. 

"  But  will  not  Monsieur  Le  Page  take  it 
unkindly  that  you  should  spend  all  his  money 
on  gifts  for  others,  when  he  meant  you  should 
enjoy  it  yourself? "  said  Elize,  in  gentle 
remonstrance. 

"  Oh,  I  shall  enjoy  seeing  you  open  the  little 
box  on  Christmas  morning  more  than  anything 
else.  You  cannot  guess  what  it  is  I  have  chosen 
for  you,  petite  mere  !  "  and  Pierrette's  eyes  were 
so  bright,  and  her  cheeks  so  rosy  with  the  ex 
citement  of  keeping  her  secret,  that  several 
persons  were  obliged  to  turn  back  to  look  at 
her  as  she  passed  them  on  the  street. 

They  were  now  turning  into  the  open  square 
in  front  of  the  old  church,  when  a  carriage  drove 
6 


82  PIERRETTE. 

up  from  the  boulevard,  —  a  large  open  carriage 
from  which  a  very  beautifully  dressed  lady 
alighted,  followed  by  her  rnaid.  She  was  about 
to  enter  the  church  when  she  recognized  a 
gentleman  picking  his  way  through  the  crowd. 

"  Ah,  Monsieur  Le  Page  !  "  cried  the  lady, 
arresting  him,  "  it  is  so  fortunate  that  I  have 
met  you.  I  have  been  twice  to  see  you  and  not 
found  you  in.  You  know  how  anxious  I  am 
about  my  antique  lace;  I  shall  be  in  despair  if 
you  cannot  procure  it.  My  friends  tell  me  it 
will  be  quite  impossible ;  but  you  will  not  dis 
appoint  me,  my  dear  Monsieur  Le  Page  ;  you 
will  obtain  it  if  such  a  piece  is  really  in 
existence  !  " 

The  lady  spoke  with  much  animation.  She 
was  evidently  one  of  those  worldly  deities  who 
are  accustomed  to  having  all  their  wishes  and 
whims  gratified,  however  impossible  these  may 
be.  And  Monsieur  Le  Page  was  certainly  the 
one  to  whom  she  could  appeal  with  confidence ; 
she  knew  that  he  had  a  miraculous  way  of  pro 
ducing  even  the  impossible,  when  it  became  a 
necessity.  He  was  truly  a  remarkable  man,  this 
Monsieur  Le  Paee. 


Elize  and  Pierrette  had  been  obliged  to  stand  a  little  aloof  on 
account  of  the  crowd." 


PIERRETTE.  85 

It  was  very  strange,  Elize  and  Pierrette  had 
been  obliged  to  stand  a  little  aloof  on  account 
of  the  crowd  at  the  doors,  and  Monsieur  had 
met  their  eyes  at  only  a  few  paces  from  where 
he  and  the  lady  stood ;  but  he  had  made  no 
sign  of  recognition  to  them,  apparently  taking 
no  more  notice  of  them  than  if  they  had  been 
strangers  to  him.  But  Elize  observed  that  the 
natural  pallor  of  his  face  deepened  a  little,  and 
his  handsome  features  wore  a  singularly  an 
noyed  expression,  as  he  listened  to  the  lady's 
appeal.  She  did  not  hear  his  reply;  it  was 
given  in  an  undertone ;  and  by  that  time  the 
crowd  at  the  door  had  moved  in,  and  Pierrette 
and  her  mother  had  disappeared  within  it.  All 
through  the  service  Elize's  devotions  were 
troubled.  She  could  not  tell  why,  but  some 
thing  seemed  to  have  come  suddenly  between 
her  and  her  new  happiness.  It  was  not  exactly 
because  Monsieur  Le  Page  had  taken  no  notice 
of  them.  She  could  hardly  expect  a  gentleman 
of  his  position  to  recognize  a  plain  little  work 
ing-woman  like  her.  Yet  he  had  always  been 
so  kind  to  them,  so  courteous,  so  considerate 
in  his  dealings  with  her;  she  could  not  but 


86  PIERRETTE. 

think  it  strange,  and  feel  a  little  hurt  that  he 
should  have  looked  at  her  and  ignored  her  as 
if  she  had  been  a  common  beggar  in  the  crowd. 

oo 

Her  young  nature  was  a  sensitive  one,  per 
haps  too  much  so  for  a  little  woman  who  had  to 
battle  for  herself  in  a  great  heartless  city  like 
Paris.  She  guessed  at  once  that  the  richly 
dressed  lady  was  one  of  Monsieur's  patrons. 
Fortunately,  or  unfortunately  perhaps,  she  had 
not  quite  understood  the  drift  of  her  words; 
but  she  had  seen  the  strange  look  that  came 
over  the  face  of  Monsieur  Le  Page,  and  she 
fancied  it  had  something  to  do  with  his  meeting 
her.  She  wondered  sorrowfully  whether  there 
was  anything  about  her  and  the  little  girl  that 
could  make  any  one  feel  ashamed  to  know 
them. 

Innocent  little  Elize,  she  was  very  far  from 
the  truth.  A  careful  observer  would  never  have 
mistaken  her  and  the  winsome  Pierrette  for 
persons  belonging  to  the  common  populace, 
especially  now,  when,  with  the  coming  of  their 
new  prosperity,  she  had  been  able  to  afford 
many  little  comforts,  and  a  few  of  the  luxuries 
of  dress  that  are  so  dear  to  the  French  woman's 


PIERRETTE.  8/ 

heart.  In  her  trim  black  gown  and  cape  as  she 
appeared  that  morning,  always  carrying  herself 
with  modest  dignity,  few  would  have  guessed 
what  very  humble  people  they  really  were,  and 
how  they  passed  their  simple  lives  under  the 
eaves  of  an  old,  old  house  in  one  of  the  poorest 
streets  of  the  city.  But  Monsieur  Le  Page 
knew  all  this,  knew  how  poor  they  had  been ; 
and  perhaps  he  did  not  care  for  them  after  all, 
as  she  had  thought  he  did  by  his  great  kind 
ness,  but  only  for  her  work,  because  it  would 
bring  a  large  sum. 

Was  it  not  Pere  Michel  who  had  told  her,  in 
his  blunt  but  good-natured  way,  that  she  and 
Pierrette  reminded  him  of  a  portrait  of  a  great 
lady  and  her  little  daughter  which  he  had  seen 
hanging  in  the  galleries  of  the  Louvre  during 
one  of  his  Sunday  ramblings  there  !  He  had 
stopped  in  front  of  it  a  long  time,  and  called 
upon  his  friend  Francois  to  notice  the  resem 
blance.  That  young  mother  with  the  pretty 
child's  arms  thrown  about  her  neck  had  the 
same  sweet  Madonna-look  he  had  seen  on  Elize 
when  he  had  chanced  to  surprise  them  with  a 
visit  of  an  evening  in  their  little  garret.  But 


88  PIERRETTE. 

now  she  could  not  recall  Pere  Michel's  words 
with  any  comfort,  although  she  had  laughed  a 
pleased  little  laugh  when  he  had  said  it  a  few 
months  ago.  For  Pere  Michel  was  only  a  sim 
ple,  untaught  old  man  who  had  very  little  knowl 
edge  or  appreciation  of  social  distinctions,  and 
whose  opinion  was  only  to  be  valued  when  it 
came  to  judging  of  old  silks  and  laces,  and  cer 
tain  trinkets  of  which  his  trade  consisted.  She 
could  not  expect  any  one  else,  any  one  who 
had  moved  in,  and  knew  the  great  world,  to 
look  upon  her  otherwise  than  as  a  common 
little  oui'ricrc  of  Paris  with  no  claim  on  the 
regard  of  those  who  were  above  her.  For  she 
belonged,  alas  !  to  that  army  of  patient  souls 
who  must  labor  for  their  bread. 

On  their  walk  homeward,  Elizc  was  silent  and 
thoughtful.  A  shadow  seemed  to  have  come 
over  the  brightness  of  the  morning,  and  later  in 
the  day,  as  she  sat  bending  over  her  lace  work, 
Pierrette  noticed  that  there  were  tears  falling 
from  her  pretty  eyes. 

"  Dearest  maman,"  cried  the  child,  running  to 
her  and  clasping  her  about  the  neck,  "  what  is  it 
that  makes  you  cry?  Are  you  not  happy  any 


PIERRETTE.  89 

more?  What  is  it,  tell  me.  Are  you  thinking 
of  poor  papa?  " 

Elize  drew  the  young  head  down  on  her 
shoulder  and  kissed  it  many  times. 

"  No,  my  Pierrette,  I  am  thinking  only  of  you, 
thinking  how  I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to 
make  your  life  different." 

"  How  do  you  mean  different  ?  "  asked  the 
little  girl,  wondering. 

"  Perhaps  I  am  a  silly  little  mother,  Pierrette, 
but  I  should  wish  to  see  you  happy  and  rich, 
and  admired  by  all  the  world." 

"  Oh,  petite  mere,"  cried  the  child,  with  a 
bright  smile,  and  a  little  coaxing  caress  of  her 
mother's  cheek,  "  if  you  love  me,  that  is  enough, 
I  do  not  care  for  all  the  world  ;  and  if  you  will 
only  always  be  happy,  and  never  cry,  I  shall 
surely  be  so." 

Pierrette's  thoughts  did  not  wander  so  far  into 
the  future  as  did  her  young  mother's.  Her 
little  hopes  and  plans  were  all  for  the  present ; 
and  she  had  begun  to  think  of  late  that  the 
present  was  becoming  very  kind  to  them. 

How  fortunate  a  thing  it  is  that  youth  takes 
no  thought  for  the  future,  that  the  hopes  and 


90  PIERRETTE. 

joys  of  to-day's  sunshine  are  unclouded  by  any 
shadow  that  may  come  to-morrow  !  What  were 
the  spring-time  of  youth  worth,  indeed,  without 
that  glad  hopefulness  which  sheds  its  warm 
glow  upon  all  the  events  and  changes  and  even 
the  vicissitudes  of  our  after  life ! 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  next  day  Pierrette  could  scarcely  wait 
until  their  little  morning  meal  was  over  to  has 
ten  to  the  old  house  in  the  rue  des  Anges.  She 
had  an  errand  at  Pore  Michel's,  —  a  very  impor 
tant  errand,  in  fact  it  was  the  purchasing  of 
her  mother's  Christmas  gift.  She  had  eyed 
wistfully,  during  her  frequent  visits  to  the  little 
shop,  something  in  that  wonderful  chest  in 
which  Pere  Michel  kept  his  treasures  that 
strongly  appealed  to  her  childish  taste,  but 
which  she  had  never  dared  hope  to  possess. 
It  was  a  tiny  gold  watch  hardly  larger  than 
a  locket,  with  one  or  two  small  jewels  set 
in  the  case,  and  so  much  gold  tracery  on 
its  small  face  that  it  was  quite  impossible  to 
tell  the  time  of  day  at  a  single  glance.  To 


92  PIERRETTE. 

be  sure,  the  minute-hand  \vas  slightly  broken, 
but  this  was  hardly  a  defect  to  one  who  was 
well  acquainted  with  it;  and  Pierrette  admired 
it  above  everything  else  in  the  old  man's 
shop. 

When  the  surprisingly  large  gold  coin  was 
put  into  her  hand  by  their  benefactor,  and 
she  was  told  by  him  to  do  as  she  liked  with 
it,  that  little  watch,  lying  on  its  old  blue- 
plush  cushion;  with  the  fine  linked  chain  wound 
all  around  it,  was  the  first  thing  that  came 
into  her  mind.  How  surprised  and  delighted 
the  little  mother  would  be  when  she  opened 
her  bundle  on  Christmas  morning  to  find  a 
beautiful  watch  with  a  tiny  gold  key  hanging 
from  its  long  chain,  which  she  could  always 
wear  about  her  neck,  as  did  the  ladies  whom 
she  had  seen  sometimes  riding  in  the  Bois ! 
Pierrette  had  no  conception  of  the  value  of  such 
a  trinket.  She  hoped  to  astonish  Pere  Michel 
with  the  enormity  of  her  wealth  by  showing 
him  the  double-louis.  She  fancied  that  his  eyes 
would  blink  at  sight  of  it,  and  that  he  would 
place  everything  in  his  shop  at  her  disposal ; 
for  Pere  Michel  had  a  passion  for  gold,  and 


PIERRETTE.  93 

liked  nothing  so  well  as  the  feeling  of  it  between 
his  fingers. 

There  was  a  bit  of  work  to  be  returned  ;  Pere 
Michel  had  not  provided  much  of  late.  He  com 
plained  of  the  dullness  of  trade ;  and,  secretly, 
Elize  was  rather  glad  of  it,  for  the  work  of  her 
new  employer  was  so  fine  and  exquisite,  and 
had  to  be  so  carefully  wrought,  that  it  took 
the  most  of  her  time.  And  she  had  really  lost 
interest  in  the  old  tiresome  mending.  Yet  she 
could  not  have  refused  the  old  man's  work  with 
out  some  explanation,  and  so  she  was  rather 
thankful  on  the  whole  that  no  explanation  was 
necessary. 

She  did  not  suspect  that  Pere  Michel  had 
formed  his  own  conclusions  about  her,  —  for  he 
was  sharp,  was  Pere  Michel,  and  had  a  way  of 
his  own  of  finding  everything  out,  —  and  that 
he  was  now  sending  the  work  he  had  always 
given  her  to  other  ouvricrcs,  much  to  his  own 
vexation,  be  it  said,  since  he  learned  the  cause 
of  her  new  prosperity.  He  did  not  care  a  fig, 
he  said  to  himself;  she  was  a  silly  little  creature 
who  knew  nothing  of  the  world,  and  would  find 
herself  well  pinched  some  of  these  fine  days. 


94  PIERRETTE. 

He  was  disappointed  in  her,  that  was  all ;  he 
had  always  thought  her  a  little  woman  of  prin 
ciple,  but  she  preferred  working  for  that  genteel 
rascal.  Ah,  well,  women  were  all  alike!  and  he 
made  a  wry  face  and  prophesied  that  she  would 
be  glad  enough  to  come  back  to  him  sometime, 
for  they  always  did.  But  then,  that  was  only 
Fere  Michel's  way  of  talking. 

That  morning  the  little  mother  was  not  in 
clined  to  leave  the  house ;  she  had  spent  a 
sleepless  night,  and  she  did  not  wish  to  see  or 
talk  with  any  one. 

"  You  will  hasten  there  and  return  quickly, 
my  Pierrette,"  she  said,  as  she  placed  the  mended 
laces  in  the  little  girl's  hand. 

"  Yes,  petite  mere,"  said  Pierrette,  very  glad 
of  the  opportunity  of  going  alone  to  Pere 
Michel's  in  order  to  transact  more  freely  her 
business  with  him. 

The  little  mother  kissed  her  on  both  cheeks, 
and  wondered  as  she  did  so  at  the  child's  eager 
look  and  the  joyous  excitement  twinkling  in  her 
bright  eyes.  She  wondered  too  if  there  was 
anywhere  in  all  this  great  city  of  Paris  a  lovelier 
child  than  Pierrette.  She  watched  her  down 


PIERRETTE.  95 

the  long  flight  of  stairs,  and  then  she  went  back 
to  her  little  window  and  looked  out  of  it  into  the 
street  below  until  the  little  red  hood  had  disap 
peared  around  the  corner. 

Dear,  fond  little  mother !  what  was  it  that 
made  her  tender  heart  overflow  that  morning, 
as  she  watched  the  little  girl  out  of  her  sight? 
Was  it  a  foreboding  of  something  that  was  in 
store  for  her,  of  a  parting  that  was  near  at  hand? 
She  sat  with  her  head  buried  in  her  hands  for  a 
longtime,  whispering  to  herself,  without  knowing 
why,  "  Heaven  bless  her !  " 

But  presently  a  knock  at  the  door  roused  her 
from  her  meditation  ;  and  she  rose  to  receive 
her  visitor. 

Meanwhile  little  Pierrette  was  hastening  to  the 
rue  des  Anges.  When  she  reached  the  old 
man's  door  she  found  Pere  Michel  in  the  act  of 
preparing  his  noon-day  meal,  and  Joy-of-My- 
Heart  in  his  favorite  attitude  upon  his  back. 

"Ah,  little  Rcd-Riding-Hood,"  croaked  the 
old  fellow,  as  he  opened  the  door  with  one 
hand,  and  with  the  other  flourished  a  long- 
handled  spoon  with  which  he  had  been  stirring 
some  batter,  so  that  everything  in  the  vicinity 


96  PIERRETTE. 

caught  a  mild  spatter  of  yellow  dough.  "  You 
must  have  scented  my  good  crepes  in  the  air, 
little  witch,  eh?" 

Pierrette  looked  around  her  for  a  minute, 
quite  out  of  breath  with  having  walked  so  fast 
and  with  the  prospect  of  approaching  Pere 
Michel  on  the  delicate  subject  of  the  watch. 

"I  did  not  know  it  was  so  late;  maman  and 
I  have  had  breakfast  but  a  short  time  ago,"  said 
the  child,  in  some  surprise.  "  I  have  brought 
back  the  work;  maman  could  not  come  herself, 
she  has  the  migraine" 

"  Humph,  the  migraine,  indeed  !  quite  like  a 
fine  lady,"  murmured  old  Michel,  stirring  his 
batter  vigorously. 

"  If  I  shall  disturb  you  by  staying,  I  can 
leave  the  work  now  and  come  again  at  some 
other  time  to  speak  to  you  —  about  something  ; 
but — but  I  wanted  to  do  it  this  morning,  very 
much ;  when  maman  was  not  here,"  she  added, 
with  some  hesitation. 

"  Now  that  you  are  here,  you  may  stay,"  said 
Michel,  good-humoredly.  "It  is  not  late,  it  is 
hardly  ten  o'clock  ;  but  Joy-of-My-Hcart  and  I 
are  bound  by  no  rules,  are  we  my  beauty?  We 


"  There  is  something  I  have  wanted  to  ask  you  about  for  a 
long  time." 


PIERRETTE.  99 

cook  our  (Icjcuner-a-la-fonrchctte  \V\\Q\\  we  please, 
and  we  eat  when  we  are  hungry.  Have  we  not 
the  right?  " 

Pierrette  could  not  dispute  that  fact,  especially 
as  Joy-of-My-Heart  was  just  then  going  through 
a  scries  of  most  foolish  contortions  to  empha 
size  his  master's  words.  "Then  I  may  wait  till 
you  have  finished?"  ventured  she,  much  re 
lieved;  "there  is  something  I  have  wanted  to 
ask  you  about;  it  is  a  surprise  for  maman,  and 
it  is  a  secret  also  ;  she  is  not  to  know  about  it 
until  Christmas  day." 

"  You  need  not  wait  until  I  have  finished  to 
ask  me.  We  do  not  eat  our  crepes  with  our 
ears,  My-Joy  and  I,"  said  the  old  man,  face 
tiously.  "  Sit  down,  sit  down,  and  tell  me  your 
secret ;  if  it  is  a  good  one,  I  will  keep  it." 

Pierrette  laughed,  and  drew  a  little  three- 
legged  stool  near  the  big  logs  that  were  blazing 
between  two  huge  fire-dogs  over  which  Pere 
Michel's  frying-pan  was  sizzling  merrily. 

"  Some  one,  a  very  kind  gentleman  who  has 
been  very  good  to  maman  and  me  —  I  may  not 
tell  you  his  name,  I  have  been  forbidden  to  do 
that  —  has  made  me  a  present  of  a  great  deal 


100  PIERRETTE. 

of  money!"  and  she  opened  her  small  palm 
and  showed  the  round  coin,  at  which  Pore 
Michel's  little  round  eyes  made  a  pretence  of 
staring  quite  wildly,  although  the  little  explana 
tion  about  the  kind  friend  was  unnecessary  ;  he 
knew  him  very  well.  "  He  said  I  should  buy 
something  for  myself  and  maman  with  it ;  and 
what  do  you  suppose  I  have  thought  of  for  her? 
You  cannot  guess,"  she  added,  leaning  forward 
to  look  at  the  old  man,  and  speaking  in  a 
confidential  undertone. 

Pere  Michel  was  just  then  in  the  act  of  send 
ing  a  large  batter-cake  flying  up  in  the  air  and 
landing  it  safely  back,  right  side  up,  in  the  fry 
ing-pan,  according  to  the  most  approved  French 
fashion,  and  this  he  did  with  much  grace  and 
dexterity. 

"  No,  I  can't  guess,"  he  said,  when  he  had 
accomplished  the  feat.  "  What,  for  instance?" 

Pierrette  screwed  up  her  rosy  mouth,  and 
her  round  eyes  shone  with  suppressed  secrecy. 
"  You  will  not  laugh  at  me,  Monsieur  Michel,  nor 
say  that  I  am  trying  to  play  la  grande  dame,  as 
you  sometimes  do  when  I  admire  your  pretty 
things?  " 


PIERRETTE.  IOI 

"  Sapcrlottc !  you  are  making  conditions, 
Ma'mzelle  Pierrette ;  do  I  ever  laugh  at  my 
customers  when  I  know  they  want  to  buy  in 
good  earnest?  "  said  Pere  Michel,  with  a  feint  of 
excusing  himself.  "  If  it 's  anything  I  have  that 
you  want  to  buy,  then  out  with  it,  and  we  shall 
see  how  good  a  bargain  we  can  make  together. 
It  is  not  the  old  red-velvet  jacket  trimmed  with 
gilt  braid  that  you  are  dreaming  of  giving  your 
poor  little  mother?  She  is  much  too  quiet  and 
too  sensible  to  want  such  rubbish  as  that." 

"  No,  it  is  not  the  red-velvet  cloak,"  replied 
Pierrette,  eying  that  fetching  article  of  apparel 
with  much  reverence  as  it  hung  from  its  hook 
in  the  tall  glass  case  against  the  wall,  and  won 
dering  why  Monsieur  Michel  spoke  in  such  a 
contemptuous  way  of  it. 

"  Perhaps  it  is  the  amethyst  ear-rings,"  sug 
gested  the  old  man;  "but  they  are  much  too 
long  and  too  heavy  for  her  pretty  ears ;  they 
would  make  her  look  like  a  Hottentot,  besides 
they  are  all  out  of  fashion." 

"  It  is  not  the  ear-rings,  either,"  said  Pierrette. 
"  Listen !  I  will  tell  you,"  and  she  came  closer 
still  to  the  old  man,  who  was  now  rolling  up  his 


IO2  PIERRETTE. 

batter-cake  between  his  thumbs  and  forefingers, 
and  preparing  to  convey  it  to  his  longing 
palate.  "  It  is  not  any  of  those  things ;  it  is 
something  useful,  something  that  maman  needs 
and  has  wanted  for  a  long  time,  only  I  never 
thought  we  should  ever  be  rich  enough  to  buy 
one.  It  is  the  little  watch,  the  smallest  one 
with  the  jewels,  in  the  blue  case,"  concluded  the 
child,  quite  out  of  breath  with  her  disclosure. 

Fere  Michel  stood  with  the  cake  uplifted  in 
his  fingers,  his  mouth  wide  open,  his  eyes  pop 
ping  out  of  his  head,  as  dumb  as  if  he  had 
been  struck  by  lightning.  Pierrette  was  puz 
zled.  She  wanted  to  laugh ;  he  did  look  so 
droll  with  that  look  of  astonishment  on  his  face, 
and  his  red  night-cap  rakishly  askew  on  the 
back  of  his  bald  head. 

At  length  he  burst  out  into  an  exclamation  of 
surprise.  "  Great  thunder-r-r-r-rs,"  he  roared, 
rolling  his  eyes  so  dreadfully  that  Joy-of-My- 
Heart  gave  a  sudden  leap  and  upset  the  frying- 
pan.  "  Great  thunders  and  blue  lightnings  !  " 
was  all  he  could  say  for  several  minutes. 

When  at  last  he  recovered  from  his  tremen 
dous  astonishment,  Pierrette  looked  up  at  him 


PIERRETTE.  IO3 

archly,  and  ventured  to  ask,  "  Don't  you  care 
to  sell  it?" 

Old  Michel  threw  back  his  head  and  laughed, 
much  to  Pierrette's  relief.  She  thought  he 
might  be  going  to  have  a  fit  of  apoplexy. 
"  Perhaps  you  don't  know,  Ma'mzelle  Pierrette, 
what  it  is  that  you  want,  —  a  gem,  an  antique,  a 
precious  piece  of  bric-a-brac,  as  well  as  a  most 
remarkable  time-keeper,  having  begun  its  tick 
ing  way  back  in  the  last  century;  worth  three 
or  four  times  the  gold-piece  you  have  in  your 
hand  !  "  and  he  brought  down  his  long  spoon 
with  an  emphatic  thump. 

Pierrette's  expression  became  quite  doleful  as 
she  sat  looking  at  her  gold  treasure  which  had 
seemed  so  enormous  to  her  and  capable  of  pur 
chasing  almost  anything  in  Paris.  "  So  you 
don't  think  this  is  enough?"  she  asked,  not 
willing  to  give  up  the  idea  altogether.  "  That 
is  a  great  pity.  I  thought  it  would  be.  It 
seemed  a  great  deal  to  me ;  and  I  hoped 
there  would  be  enough  left  after  paying  for 
the  watch  to  get  some  things  for  little  Francois 
and  Jeanneton  and  the  ckiffonnier"  and  she 
uttered  a  little  sigh  and  let  her  hands  fall  in 


IO4  PIERRETTE. 

her  lap  in  a  way  that  was  very  expressive 
of  her  disappointment. 

Pere  Michel  was  not  so  hard-hearted  an  old 
creature  as  he  looked,  or  so  much  of  a  miser  as 
most  people  thought  him  to  be.  He  was  quite 
touched  with  the  little  girl's  desire  to  please  her 
mother.  But,  of  course,  he  did  not  show  his 
emotion ;  that  \vas  too  unbusiness-like.  He 
only  stirred  the  remainder  of  his  batter  more 
energetically,  and  said,  "  Well,  well,  wait  a  few 
days  ',  I  will  see  what  I  can  do.  There  are  three 
weeks  yet  before  Christmas.  I  will  think  about 
it.  Come  in  again  in  a  day  or  two,  and  I  will 
tell  you  then  whether  I  can  let  you  have  the 
watch  for  your  money." 

"  Oh,  thank  you  many  times,  Monsieur 
Michel,  you  are  very  good,"  she  said,  casting  a 
longing  glance  at  the  old  chest  containing  the 
coveted  treasure. 

Then  she  rose  to  go,  and  gathered  the  strings 
of  her  little  hood  together. 

"  No,  there  is  no  other  work  this  morning," 
said  Pere  Michel,  as  he  saw  her  hesitating 
before  unlatching  the  door. 

She  hurried   home,  for  she  had  stayed  much 


PIERRETTE.  105 

longer  than  she  expected,  and  maman  might  be 
anxious  and  wonder  at  her  delay.  But  the 
little  mother  had  scarcely  taken  any  account  of 
the  time  since  Pierrette  had  left.  Something 
very  strange  had  happened  while  she  was  gone, 
—  something  that  made  the  young  woman  feel 
quite  bewildered.  When  Pierrette  opened  the 
door,  she  found  a  visitor  in  the  room,  and 
maman's  face  looked  troubled,  and  her  eyes 
looked  as  if  she  had  been  crying.  Yet  she  was 
thanking  him  and  trying  to  smile  even  through 
her  tears. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

TlIE  knock  at  the  door  which  had  roused 
Elize  some  moments  before  had  come  from 
Monsieur  Le  Page.  The  little  mother  was 
surprised  to  see  him,  for  it  was  but  two  days 
since  he  had  been  to  pay  her  for  the  month's 
work,  and  had  given  the  gold  coin  to  Pierrette. 

o  o 

After  what  had  taken  place  in  front  of  the 
church  yesterday,  she  hardly  knew  how  to  greet 
him.  Perhaps  something  had  happened  to 
make  him  displeased  with  her;  a  confusion  of 
doubts  swarmed  in  her  timid  breast,  and  a 
fearful  dread  came  over  her  that  he  was  come, 
somehow,  to  rob  her  of  some  of  her  happiness. 
She  met  him  tremblingly;  her  fear  lasted  but  a 
moment,  for  Monsieur  Le  Page  smiled  at  her 
kindly,  and  gave  her  his  hand  in  such  a  friendly 


PIERRETTE.  IO/ 

way,  that  she  felt  re-assured.  He  sat  down  and 
began  talking  upon  various  subjects  which  had 
nothing  to  do  with  his  usual  business.  He  did 
not  even  mention  the  lace  or  ask  to  see  it. 
He  inquired  after  Pierrette,  and  talked  of  her  a 
great  deal ;  and  the  little  mother  glowed  with 
pride  at  his  praise  of  her,  and  began  to  reproach 
herself  inwardly  for  having  supposed  that  this 
kind  gentleman  who  had  so  befriended  them, 
and  shown  such  a  great  interest  in  them,  should 
have  been  ashamed  to  recognize  them  that 
morning  in  front  of  the  church.  She  had  been 
very  foolish  and  wrong  to  think  it  of  him.  He 
was  such  a  busy  man,  and  his  mind  was  so  pre 
occupied  with  great  interests  which  they  could 
not  even  try  to  understand,  that  it  was  very 
possible  he  might  have  looked  straight  at  them 
and  yet  not  seen  them.  It  was  very  comforting 
to  the  little  mother  to  think  that  she  had  been 
mistaken,  and  that  the  handsome  gentleman 
whom  she  and  Pierrette  had  learned  to  honor 
because  of  his  goodness,  was  no  less  kind  and 
generous  than  they  had  thought  him. 

To  a  sensitive  young  thing  like  Elize,  a  kind 
look    from    any    fellow-creature    was     far    more 


IO8  PIERRETTE. 

precious  than  a  more  liberal  reward  of  money. 
She  could  not  live  without  the  latter,  truly 
enough ;  but  she  could  have  been  happier 
without  money  than  without  kindness  and  gen 
tleness  and  love.  Monsieur  Le  Page  had 
treated  them  always  with  the  utmost  considera 
tion,  more  as  if  he  were  their  guardian  and 
friend  than  their  task-master.  How  different 
he  was  from  old  Michel,  thought  little  Elize  ! 
Before  Pere  Michel  she  was  always  timid  and 
humbled ;  with  Monsieur  Le  Page  she  felt  like 
a  real  lady.  For  he  had  the  faculty  of  raising 
her  to  his  level,  and  never  letting  her  know  that 
he  was  their  superior;  but  perhaps  that  was 
because  he  was  such  a  true  gentleman. 

While  these  simple  thoughts  were  passing 
through  Elize's  mind,  Monsieur  Le  Page  was 
growing  confidential  and  talking  more  about 
himself  than  she  had  ever  known  him  to  do 
before.  It  had  often  puzzled  him,  he  said,  to 
know  what  he  should  do  with  all  his  wealth. 
He  was  alone  in  the  world,  and  he  had  worked 
for  himself  alone ;  and  after  all  that  brought 
but  little  satisfaction.  He  had  not  thought  that 
he  should  ever  take  any  special  interest  in  any 


PIERRETTE.  1 09 

of  his  fellow-creatures,  enough  so  to  wish  to  help 
them  and  better  their  condition.  Yet,  since  he 
had  known  her  and  Pierrette,  that  wish  had 
seized  upon  him,  and  had  grown  stronger,  until 
now  he  felt  that  he  could  not  be  happy  unless 
she  allowed  him  to  show  his  interest  for  them  in 
some  substantial  way. 

Elize  was  puzzled ;  she  could  not  quite  under 
stand  him.  "  Monsieur  has  been  so  kind  to  us," 
she  said,  with  sweet  gratitude  glistening  in  her 
eyes ;  "  we  have  already  too  much  to  thank  you 
for,  Pierrette  and  I." 

"  Not  so,"  interposed  Monsieur  Le  Page,  "  it 
is  I  who  shall  have  cause  to  thank  you  if  you 
will  look  favorably  upon  the  proposition  I  wish 
to  make  in  regard  to  the  little  girl." 

"  Anything  that  you  may  propose,  Monsieur, 
is  sure  to  be  wise  and  best ;  you  know  that  you 
have  my  favor  in  advance." 

"  I  have  grown  fond  of  Pierrette;  one  could 
hardly  see  the  child  and  not  become  so.  Her 
beauty  is  too  rare  to  be  hidden  away  in  this 
obscure  quarter  of  Paris.  Her  mind  too  bright 
not  to  be  disciplined  ;  her  nature  too  gentle  to 
be  allowed  to  battle  with  the  hardships  of 


1 10  -PIERRETTE. 

poverty.  It  has  grown  to  be  a  strong  desire 
with  me  to  give  her  the  advantages  that  wealth 
can  procure,  and  make  her  happy  in  all  that  the 
world  deems  happiness,  and  to  see  how  far  the 
power  of  riches  can  go  to  achieve  this  end.  It 
is  an  interesting  study  to  watch  the  growth  and 
expansion  of  natural  gifts  by  means  of  proper 
conditions  and  congenial  atmosphere.  I  should 
like  to  see  this  child  blossom  into  the  perfection 
of  womanhood,  rise  from  her  lowly  surroundings 
here  to  the  highest  position  in  the  social  world, 
and  to  feel  that  I  had  been  the  means  of  ac 
complishing  this  transformation." 

Monsieur  Le  Page's  generous  offer  was  per 
haps  not  unmixed  with  a  little  selfish  pride. 
He  was  proud  indeed  of  his  great  wealth, 
proud  of  his  having  achieved  it  alone,  proud  of 
the  power  it  gave  him  to  obtain,  as  he  firmly 
believed,  all  things  in  this  world. 

The  little  mother  had  tried  to  follow  him. 
What  he  had  said  was  such  a  sudden  and  com 
plete  realization  of  all  the  vague,  unspoken 
hopes  she  had  so  long  cherished  for  little 
Pierrette,  that  it  seemed  to  her  as  if  she  must 
be  dreaming.  She  did  not  quite  comprehend 


PIERRETTE.  1 1  I 

all  that  he  wished  to  do  for  the  child.  Her 
ideas  of  worldly  advancement  were  very  small. 
She  was  such  a  simple,  artless  little  woman,  and 
knew  so  little  of  the  life  of  the  so-called  great 
people  of  a  big  city.  She  pressed  her  fingers 
against  her  white  temple,  and  her  breath  came 
fast.  It  was  very  hard  to  grasp  and  understand 
this  burst  of  fortune  that  came  upon  her  and 
almost  overwhelmed  her  by  its  suddenness. 

"But  how  may  this  be,  Monsieur?"  she 
asked;  "must  not  one  be  born  to  such  position 
as  you  speak  of  ?  My  little  child  and  I  are 
very  humble.  How  is  it  possible  that  she  could 
ever  become  a  lady?  " 

"  With  money,  Madame,  it  is  possible  to 
accomplish  everything.  Money  is  a  very  potent 
thing;  it  can  buy  homage,  rank,  and  the  plaudits 
of  the  great  world.  With  it  a  man  is  powerful 
for  good  or  evil  alike ;  without  it,  one  is  help 
less  in  spite  of  great  talents,  ambition,  and  even 
genius,"  and  Monsieur  Le  Page  pressed  the  gold 
knob  of  his  cane  tightly  against  his  lips,  as  if  to 
emphasize  the  force  of  his  conviction. 

Poor  little  Elize  could,  in  a  small  measure, 
appreciate  the  value  of  these  words.  She  had 


112  PIERRETTE. 

never  had  the  means  of  judging  of  the  full 
power  of  money;  but  she  knew  too  well  the 
hardships  and  privations  that  come  from  the 
lack  of  it.  She  had  looked  upon  this  quiet 
gentleman  as  the  embodiment  of  that  very 
power  of  which  he  spoke.  She  was  convinced 
that  he  could  do  anything,  accomplish  every 
thing,  with  his  wealth.  Moreover,  she  admired 
and  respected  him  ;  and  it  was  easy  to  believe 
his  words,  even  though  she  could  not  quite 
compass  their  meaning. 

Ho\v  was  all  this  that  he  wished  for  Pierrette 
to  be  accomplished?  Monsieur  Le  Page  ex 
plained  it  in  a  few  brief  words.  He  would 
make  her  the  heir  of  his  fortune ;  and,  in  order 
to  fit  her  for  so  exalted  a  sphere,  she  must  first 
be  taken  from  her  lowly  surroundings,  and 
placed  in  the  care  of  those  who  would  teach 
her  and  train  her  in  the  ways  that  become  a  fine 
lady.  She  must  have  a  governess,  and  masters 
in  all  the  arts,  and  live  at  Monsieur  Le  Page's 
magnificent  house,  where  she  should  early  be 
brought  under  the  refining  influence  of  luxury, 
and  that  she  might  learn  to  care  for  him  as  a 
daughter. 


PIERRETTE.  113 

The  little  mother's  heart  stood  still.  Would 
she  have  to  be  separated  from  Pierrette?  Would 
Pierrette  be  taken  from  her,  so  that  they  would 
never  see  each  other? 

Hardly  that,  Monsieur  Le  Page  thought.  Yet 
a  separation  was  inevitable.  If  he  made  Pier 
rette  his  heir,  she  must  become  his  charge,  and 
be  entirely  under  his  control;  she  must  look  to 
him  for  everything.  The  young  mother  would 
be  handsomely  provided  for.  She  had  spoken 
of  a  home  at  Meudon,  one  should  be  bought 
for  her  there  ;  and  the  little  girl  should  be 
allowed  to  see  her  from  time  to  time,  and  they 
should  not  be  unhappy.  Everything  would  be 
done  for  the  child's  comfort  and  pleasure.  But, 
of  course,  it  would  be  impossible  for  Elizc  to 
remain  in  the  same  house  with  her. 

Poor  little  mother !  how  strangely  had  her 
hopes  and  longings  for  Pierrette  shaped  them 
selves  for  her  own  misery;  how  could  she  give 
up  her  little  child  into  the  hands  of  strangers, 
and  stand  aside  and  see  the  only  joy  of  her  life 
going  from  her,  for  the  delight  of  others?  Mon 
sieur  Le  Page  had  been  kind  to  them ;  his  wish 
to  take  the  little  girl  and  do  for  her  as  for  a 


114  PIERRETTE. 

daughter  was  only  another  proof  of  his  generos 
ity  ;  and  yet,  what  a  price  was  this  to  pay  for 
her  gratitude !  She  could  make  no  answer 
now  ;  her  lips  trembled  and  her  voice  was 
choked.  She  could  not  refuse  him  what  he 
asked.  There  was  but  one  choice  between  such 
a  life  as  she  and  Pierrette  were  living,  and  the 
one  he  offered  them  ;  but  her  mother-heart  was 
wrung  at  the  very  thought  of  choosing. 

Monsieur  Le  Page  saw  the  look  of  anguish 
that  came  into  her  eyes,  and  he  could  not  under 
stand  it.  He  had  never  known  such  a  love  as 
the  one  that  filled  the  gentle  mother's  heart. 
That  she  should  hesitate  to  accept  such  an  offer 
as  he  had  just  made  to  her,  on  account  of  any 
personal  regret,  had  not  entered  into  his  calcu 
lations. 

"  Monsieur  must  not  think  me  ungrateful," 
said  the  little  woman,  at  length,  "or  believe  that 
I  do  not  fully  appreciate  the  honor  he  does  my 
little  child.  I  wish  to  do  all  that  is  best  for 
Pierrette,  without  considering  myself;  but  I 
must  ask  Monsieur  to  let  me  think  about  it  a 
while  alone.  I  shall  be  prepared  to  give  Mon 
sieur  his  answer  in  a  few  days." 


"  I  know,  I  know,  Monsieur,  and  I  thank  you  in  my  heart.1 


PIERRETTE.  1 1/ 

"  Certainly;  in  a  week,  or  even  two.  There 
need  be  no  haste,"  assented  the  gentleman. 
"It  is  a  serious  matter  for  you,  I  understand. 
You  may  take  your  own  time  for  decision.  But 
rest  assured  that  the  little  girl  will  receive  the 
best  of  care,  and  that  everything  shall  be  done 
with  a  view  to  her  happiness." 

"  I  know,  I  know,  Monsieur,  and  I  thank  you 
in  my  heart,"  and  she  looked  up  at  him  with  her 
soft  gray  eyes  from  which  two  large  tears  over 
flowed. 

It  was  then  that  little  Pierrette  entered,  and 
immediately  the  young  mother's  arms  were 
around  her,  and  she  was  holding  the  pretty 
head  on  her  bosom.  No,  they  could  not  be 
going  to  part  from  each  other  ;  it  could  not  be  ! 
She  must  have  been  dreaming.  Every  other 
thought  fled  from  her,  save  that  her  little  one 
was  here  again,  nestling  close  to  her,  and  the 
joy  of  their  old  life,  simple  and  humble  as  it  had 
been,  presented  itself  to  her  with  such  force 
that  parting  seemed  a  thing  impossible. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

ALL  the  rest  of  that  day  Elize  went  about 
with  a  leaden  weight  in  her  heart.  The  sun 
light  looked-  cold  ;  the  song  of  the  yellow  canary 
had  a  dismal  note  to  it ;  the  new  buds  that  had 
blossomed  in  the  night  in  her  window  bore  a 
sickening  fragrance ;  and  all  the  little  pleasures 
that  had  given  their  simple  home  a  charm  and 
grace  seemed  now,  as  she  looked  upon  them, 
to  cause  her  pain  instead  of  delight.  They  were 
all  associated  with  the  child.  What  would  they 
all  mean  if  she  were  taken  away !  Where  was 
the  use  of  living  if  the  one  thing  that  had 
made  life  sweet  was  denied  her!  Oh,  it  was 
cruel,  cruel !  —  and  yet  she  had  wished  it  all,  so 
blindly,  so  foolishly,  never  suspecting  that  she 


PIERRETTE.  119 

would  have  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  her  love  in 
payment  for  her  ambition. 

She  could  not  meet  Pierrette's  inquiring  eyes  ; 
she  had  not  the  heart  to  tell  her  yet.  She  must 
reason  with  herself,  and  gain  courage  to  do  what 
was  best.  Then  she  would  break  the  news  to 
the  little  girl  cheerfully,  that  she  might  not 
look  upon  it  as  a  hardship,  but  only  as  the  ful 
fillment  of  their  brightest  dreams.  It  had  never 
once  occurred  to  the  young  mother  that  she 
could  refuse  her  patron's  generous  offer.  She 
knew  that  she  must  submit.  Would  it  not  be 
selfish  of  her  to  stand  in  the  way  of  Pierrette's 
life-happiness  and  prosperity  because  of  her 
own  foolish  feelings?  Had  she  not  been  taught 
that  to  give  up  what  we  prize  the  most  for  the 
good  of  those  we  love,  is  the  truest  way  of 
showing  them  our  devotion  !  Besides,  she  had 
been  forced  by  circumstances  to  give  up  much 
that  was  dear  to  her.  But  making  a  sacrifice 
because  we  are  compelled  to  it  by  circumstances, 
and  making  one  of  our  own  free-will,  are  two 
very  different  things ;  and  it  is  the  last  that  is 
the  true  test  of  our  nobler  self. 

So  the  little    mother  gathered  up  her  courage 


I2O  PIERRETTE. 

through  the  whole  of  that  long  day,  and  gave 
herself  a  score  of  reasons  why  it  \vas  best  that 
Pierrette  should  go ;  how  much  happier  the 
child  would  be  for  it,  and  that  she  herself,  in 
time,  might  become  accustomed  to  the  separa 
tion,  and  would  find  some  little  comfort,  per 
haps,  in  the  birds  and  the  flowers,  her  old 
friends  at  Meudon.  And  Pierrette  would  come 
to  her  now  and  then,  for  she  should  not  be  very 
far  off,  and  they  would  spend  a  day  together ; 
and  the  joy  of  those  moments  would  keep  her 
happy  for  many  days  after.  And  when  the 
little  girl  grew  up  to  womanhood,  fair,  beauti 
ful,  and  accomplished,  and  understood  what  she 
had  given  up  for  her  sake,  Pierrette  would  bless 
her  for  it  and  love  her  the  more.  Yes,  she  was 
sure  that  her  little  Pierrette  would  never  forget 
her  quite,  that  she  would  always  remember  and 
cherish  her  "  petite  mere,"  no  matter  how  grand 
and  splendid  a  lady  they  made  of  her. 

That  night  Elize  told  the  little  girl  what  had 
been  the  purport  of  Monsieur  Le  Page's  visit. 
In  simple  terms,  she  made  Pierrette  understand 
what  he  wished  to  do  for  her  :  how  he  would 
give  her  a  beautiful  home,  and  everything  that 


PIERRETTE.  121 

could  make  her  life  happy  ;  how  he  would  have 
her  taught  many  wise  things,  and  make  a  lady 
of  her ;  and  how,  when  she  was  old  enough,  she 
would  have  the  means  to  do  great  good.  She 
dwelt  on  their  patron's  unspeakable  kindness  in 
placing  such  fair  fortunes  within  her  reach  ;  for 
she  wished  the  child  to  love  him,  and  look  upon 
him  as  her  greatest  benefactor,  without  any 
jealous  fears  for  herself. 

"  Will  you  not  like  to  go  and  live  with  the  kind 
Monsieur  in  his  beautiful  house,  Pierrette?  and 
drive  behind  splendid  horses,  and  become  a  very 
rich  lady  some  day?"  she  asked,  with  a  smile, 
as  the  child  listened  with  wondering  eyes  to  the 
strange  revelations  that  were  made  to  her. 

"Without  you,  petite  mere?  How  can  that 
be?" 

"  Oh,  I  shall  not  be  very  far  away,  my  Pier 
rette,  and  we  shall  see  each  other  often.  And 
there  will  be  a  kind  lady  who  will  take  care  of 
you  and  teach  you  many  wise  and  useful  things, 
which  I  cannot  do.  And  Monsieur  Le  Page, 
you  will  care  for  him  very  much,  because  he 
will  give  you  so  much  that  will  make  you 
happy." 


122  PIERRETTE. 

"  And  will  it  make  you  happy,  petite  mere?" 
asked  the  child,  a  little  doubtfully,  seeing  that 
the  young  mother's  eyes  were  moist  even  while 
her  lips  were  smiling. 

"  It  would  be  very  ungrateful  of  me  to  be 
otherwise,"  she  answered. 

"  And  when  I  am  grown,  and  may  have  every 
thing  I  want,  can  I  not  have  you  with  me 
always  ? " 

"  Perhaps,  perhaps,  my  Pierrette,  but  that 
time  is  many  years  hence.  You  are  still  a  very 
little  girl,  and  until  then  we  must  do  as  Mon 
sieur  thinks  best.  You  will  not  find  it  hard  to 
do  his  wishes.  He  is  so  kind  and  cares  much 
for  you,  and  you  love  him  too,  do  you  not, 
Pierrette?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  better  than  any  one  else,  excepting 
you,  petite  mere." 

The  little  mother  felt  grateful  that  Pierrette 
had  learned  to  care  for  and  admire  the  good 
gentleman.  It  would  have  been  so  much  harder 
if  he  had  not  first  won  the  child's  confidence 
and  affection,  and  drawn  her  heart  to  him  by 
the  many  little  kindnesses  and  attentions  which 
children  love  to  receive  from  their  elders. 


As  if  all  the  airy  sprites  she  had  heard  of  in  the  old  fain- 
book  were  dancing  by  her  in  gay  procession." 


PIERRETTE.  125 

Pierrette  was  too  young  to  understand  fully 
the  change  this  would  make  in  her  life,  and  how, 
in  spite  of  the  tender  love  they  bore  each  other, 
she  and  her  young  mother  must  surely  grow 
apart,  by  reason  of  the  very  difference  in  their 
lives  ;  how  time  and  change  and  new  interests 
are  the  most  powerful  agents  to  make  the  young 
forget  their  earlier  and  more  humble  blessings. 

O  O 

Therefore  she  was  not  heart-sick,  nor  felt  any 
forebodings  in  the  midst  of  her  strange  good 
fortune,  as  did  the  young  mother.  That  night 
she  dreamed  that  she  slept  on  beds  of  roses,  and 
the  world  about  her  was  bright,  fresh,  and  green 
as  the  country  is  at  Meudon  in  the  spring-time, 
and  the  air  filled  with  the  loveliest  bird-notes, 
and  the  sound  of  trickling  waters.  And  it 
seemed  as  if  all  the  airy  sprites  she  had  heard 
of  in  the  old  fairy-book  were  dancing  by  her 
in  gay  procession,  and  each  one  stooped  to  kiss 
her  as  she  passed,  and  left  a  blessing  on  her 
lips.  A  strange  dream  it  was  for  a  little  girl 
to  have,  sleeping  on  a  narrow  cot  in  an  old 
garret,  in  that  little  room,  all  darkened  save 
for  the  glow  of  the  dying  embers  in  the  great 
chimney  hollow,  and  the  pale  beams  of  a  cold. 


1 26  PIERRETTE. 

cold  moon  that  came  in  through  the  small 
window. 

Elize  sat  beside  the  little  bed,  holding  one 
baby-hand  in  hers,  and  placing  those  fairy  kisses 
of  her  dreams  on  the  lips  of  the  sleeping  child. 
There  was  no  sleep  for  her  that  night.  She 
could  only  look  at  her  darling,  and  pray  Heaven 
to  give  her  the  strength  she  so  much  needed. 
For  she  had  now  made  up  her  mind  to  the  part 
ing.  She  herself  could  do  so  little  for  the  child, 
she  must  be  willing  and  glad  to  let  others  do  for 
her  what  she  could  not.  She  had  hoped  and  even 
prayed  that  Pierrette's  life  might  be  different 
from  that  of  the  other  poor  children  she  knew. 
Was  not  this  the  fulfillment  of  her  wish  !  To 
grieve  for  her  own  loss,  to  cast  a  shadow  on 
Pierrette's  good  fortune  by  any  regrets  of  her 
own,  would  make  the  little  girl  unhappy,  and 
she  would  be  lacking  herself  in  courage.  That 
little  mother,  though  young  and  sensitive,  and 
frail  of  body,  was  very  strong  and  brave  in  her 
love. 

She  sat  silent  and  alone  through  the  long 
hours  of  the  night,  trying  to  prepare  herself  for 
the  separation  that  was  to  come,  and  wondering 


PIERRETTE.  I2/ 

how  it  would  seem  when  Pierrette  was  no  longer 
with  her,  and  if  all  her  days  would  be  as  lonely 
and  cheerless  as  that  still  night.  The  old  bell 
from  the  tower  of  St.  Sulpice  tolled  out  the 
midnight  hour  over  the  sleeping  city.  Its  rich, 
mellow  tones  seemed  to  carry  a  nameless  com 
fort  to  her  stricken  soul.  It  seemed  like  a  voice 
from  Heaven  speaking  to  her,  and  bidding  her 
be  of  good  cheer.  She  rose  and  went  to  the 
window,  and  looked  out  upon  the  night.  Here 
and  there,  in  the  neighboring  houses,  a  light 
went  out  from  one  of  the  windows,  —  some 
weary  worker,  perhaps,  whose  daily  task  was  just 
done,  —  and  at  length  all  around  grew  still,  and 
she  and  the  white  moon  were  left  to  keep  their 
vi^il  alone. 


CHAPTER  X. 

NOW  that  the  little  mother  had  quite  made 
up  her  mind  to  give  up  her  treasure,  she  became 
anxious  that  Monsieur  Lc  Page  should  come 
soon  to  get  her  answer;  and  now  that  the 
struggle  was  over,  and  she  had  won  the  battle 
over  her  foolish  heart,  she  was  eager  that 
Pierrette  should  enter  as  early  as  might  be 
upon  her  new  dignities.  She  felt  that  every 
day  spent  in  the  little  garret-room  was  one  day 
robbed  her  of  her  good  fortune.  Pierrette  had 
many  things  to  learn,  she  said,  before  Monsieur 
came  to  take  her  away,  and  she  wished  to  pre 
pare  her  as  well  as  she  could  for  becoming 
a  lady. 

But  Pierrette  was  already  a  little  lady;  she 
was  that  by  nature,  and  her  gentle  mother's 


PIERRETTE.  I2Q 

teaching.  She  had  never  heard  or  known  a 
harsh  word  in  her  life;  love  and  kindness  had 
been  their  teacher  and  their  guide;  and  there 
are  no  more  refining  influences  anywhere  than 
these  two  gentle  virtues.  In  spite  of  the  lowli 
ness  of  her  surroundings,  the  little  girl  possessed 
that  inborn  grace  and  charm  of  manner  which 
no  amount  of  education  can  secure.  It  was 
this,  together  with  her  childish  trust  and  fond 
ness  for  him,  that  had  won  the  rich  gentleman's 
interest,  and  had  given  him  the  desire  to  raise 
her  to  a  position  which  he  felt  sure  she  would 
adorn.  The  little  mother  had  not  been  able  to 
teach  Pierrette  much  of  what  the  world  calls 
wisdom;  but  she  had  imbued  her  childish  nature 
with  a  love  for  truth  and  goodness,  and  that  in 
itself  is  a  talisman  for  winning  all  hearts. 

They  spent  many  hours  talking  of  the  new 
life  that  was  in  store  for  her,  and  trying  to  im 
agine  how  it  would  be,  and  building  airy  castles 
for  a  distant  future.  One  day  they  had  gone  so 
far  as  to  ride  out  to  the  avenue  of  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  a  long  distance  for  them  to  go  from 
their  home ;  for  they  hardly  ever  crossed  the 
bridges  of  the  Seine,  and  had  scarcely  any 
9 


I3O  PIERRETTE. 

knowledge  of  that  other  side  of  Paris,  with  its 
handsome  buildings  and  broad  avenues  and 
brilliant  parks.  When  they  reached  the  great 
Arch  of  Triumph,  they  descended  from  the 
omnibus  and  walked  down  the  shady  avenue, 
past  the  splendid  homes  of  the  rich,  and  among 
them  that  of  Monsieur  Le  Page. 

It  was  a  veritable  little  chateau,  built  of  gray 
stone  with  innumerable  little  turrets  that  now 
were  mantled  with  a  fresh  fall  of  snow.  The 
red  glow  of  the  setting  sun  fell  full  upon  its 
windows,  and  it  seemed  to  be  enveloped  in  a 
blaze  of  glory. 

"  Look,  look,  Pierrette,  how  beautiful  it  is  !  " 
whispered  the  little  mother,  as,  passing  the  great 
iron  gate  that  led  into  its  garden,  the}"  caught 
glimpses  of  its  splendor  through  the  half-cur 
tained  windows.  Rare  and  beautiful  flowers 
rearing  their  graceful  heads  to  the  light,  white 
marble  statues  and  rich  draperies,  such  sump- 
tuousness  as  Pierrette  and  her  little  mother  had 
never  dreamed  of. 

"  To  think  that  this  shall  be  your  home,  Pier 
rette,  —  all  yours  some  da)- !  —  and  that  some 
time  I  may  come  walking  by  as  we  are  doing 


"  They  walked  down  the  shady  avenue." 


PIERRETTE.  133 

to-day,  and  shall  see  your  face  looking  from  one 
of  those  great  windows  and  smiling  down  at  me. 
Oh,  does  it  not  seem  strange  that  such  fortune 
should  come  to  you  and  me ;  I  cannot  make  it 
seem  true  !  " 

Pierrette  pressed  her  mother's  hand.  "  Oh, 
petite  mere,  if  you  were  only  to  be  here  too  !  " 
she  said,  wistfully;  "  it  will  be  very  strange  for 
me  to  be  living  in  this  great  house,  and  you  in 
the  little  cottage  at  Meudon.  I  wonder  why  it 
must  be  so  !  " 

"  Monsieur  wishes  it,  my  Pierrette  ;  and  there 
are  reasons  why  it  is  best."  And  Pierrette  did 
not  doubt  this. 

They  hastened  on,  hardly  daring  to  look  back 
at  the  beautiful  home  that  was  of  so  great  in- 

«•  o 

terest  to  them  both  lest  any  one  should  see 
them  and  wonder  at  their  boldness.  When 
they  returned  to  their  little  garret  that  night,  it 
seemed  as  if  they  had  been  off  on  a  long 
journey.  They  were  so  full  of  what  they  had 
seen  that  they  could  talk  of  nothing  else. 

In  the  evening,  when  Pierrette  went  to  take 
old  Jeanneton  her  dish  of  soup,  she  could  not 
refrain  from  mentioning  her  adventures.  "  You 


134  PIERRETTE. 

cannot  think  where  petite  mere  and  I  have 
been  to-day,  Jeanneton.  We  have  been  to  see 
a  gentleman's  palace,  a  long  way  beyond  the 
Seine.  Oh,  it  is  such  a  beautiful  place !  and 
you  would  never  believe  it,  Jeanneton,  but  I  am 
going  there  to  live  very  soon,  and  I  shall  be 
very  rich,  maman  says,  and  I  shall  send  you 
your  soup  every  day  and  a  fowl  on  Sunday,  and 
plenty  of  wood  to  keep  you  warm  in  winter." 

"  What's  all  that  rubbish  !  "  grumbled  the  old 
dame,  holding  out  her  hand  for  the  dish;  "  who 
talks  of  being  rich  in  this  neighborhood,  I 
should  like  to  know !  I  have  lived  in  it  sixty 
years,  and  have  never  seen  anything  but  misery. 
Don't  talk  to  me  of  palaces !  This  is  a  rat- 
trap,  I  tell  you,  and  we  are  all  caught  in  it  to 
starve." 

"  Oh,  but,  Jeanneton,  there  is  a  dear,  good 
Monsieur  who  has  been  giving  maman  some 
lovely  lace  work  to  do,  and  paying  her  a  great 
deal  of  money  for  it,  and  who  makes  me  beauti 
ful  gifts.  It  is  he  who  is  rich,  and  is  going  to 
take  me  to  live  with  him." 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  your  fine 
Monsieur,"  persisted  the  old  woman,  with  much 


PIERRETTE.  135 

ill-nature.  "  The  only  Monsieur  I  ever  see  is 
that  miserly  concierge  who  comes  up  every 
month  to  plague  me  for  the  rent,  when  I 
have  n't  a  sou  to  give  him.  They  are  all  alike, 
your  Messieurs,  a  rascally  lot,  who  like  riothing 
better  than  to  cheat  the  poor." 

Pierrette  knew  that  Jeanneton  would  be  in  a 
more  amiable  mood  when  she  had  swallowed 
her  hot  broth ;  but  she  could  not  help  laughing 
at  the  thought  of  Jeanneton's  comparing  Mon 
sieur  Le  Page  to  the  old  concierge  downstairs. 
If  she  could  only  see  him  once,  with  his  hand 
some  features  and  long  curling  mustache,  and 
the  kindly  smile  with  which  he  always  greeted 
her  when  he  came,  and  the  elegant  gold-top 
cane  he  carried,  and  the  curious  eye-glass 
through  which  he  looked  at  her,  she  felt  sure 
that  Jeanneton,  even  old,  grumbling,  ill-natured 
Jeanneton,  could  not  but  think  him  a  most 
delightful  gentleman. 

It  was  now  nearly  two  weeks  since  Monsieur 
Le  Page  had  been  to  see  Elize,  and  the  wonder 
ful  piece  of  lace  had  been  finished  for  some 
days,  and  she  awaited  his  return  with  impatience. 
As  the  days  followed  one  another  and  he  did 


136  PIERRETTE. 

not  come,  she  grew  restless  and  uneasy.  She 
felt  that  she  must  talk  to  some  one  about  the 
thing  that  weighed  most  on  her  heart. 

That  evening,  after  Pierrette  had  gone  to 
sleep,  Elize  put  on  her  bonnet  and  cape,  and 
made  her  way  noiselessly  down  the  dingy  stairs 
out  into  the  frosty  night.  She  was  going  to 
Pere  Michel's.  He  was  not  one  whom  she 
would  ordinarily  have  sought  for  confidence ; 
he  was  not  a  very  sympathetic  listener.  But 
she  must  tell  somebody,  and  she  really  knew 
him  better  than  any  one  of  her  neighbors, 
and  something  seemed  to  lead  her  to  him 
that  night.  He  was  fond  of  Pierrette,  in  his 
way,  and  she  needed  advice  about  her.  There 
would  be  no  need  of  mentioning  the  name  of 
Monsieur  Le  Page,  or  speaking  of  the  work  she 
had  done  for  him.  She  would  simply  say  that 
it  was  a  rich  gentleman  who  had  been  very 
kind  to  them,  and  who  had  offered  to  take 
Pierrette  and  bring  her  up  like  a  lacly,  and 
she  had  made  up  her  mind  to  let  him  have 
the  child. 

The  little  mother  walked  rapidly  through  the 
idle  crowd  in  the  rue  des  Anges,  for,  it  being 


PIERRETTE.  137 

the  week  before  the  Christmas  feast,  every 
one  was  out  inspecting  the  brilliant  little  shops, 
and  making  what  purchases  their  small  means 
would  allow.  But  Elize  was  not  in  touch 
with  that  merry,  laughing  multitude  to-night. 
She  scarcely  heard  the  confused  clatter  of  the 
women's  voices  and  the  boisterous  shouting 
of  the  men  and  the  shrill  laughter  of  boys 
and  girls.  As  she  hurried  past  them,  she  was 
preparing  her  little  speech  to  Pere  Michel, 
feeling,  perhaps,  a  little  frightened  at  her  own 
boldness. 

When  she  entered  the  shop,  she  found  the 
old  man  seated  in  his  armchair  before  the  fire, 
roasting  chestnuts  for  the  enjoyment  of  himself 
and  his  dog.  There  was  no  light  in  the  room 
but  the  fitful  flame  that  rose  and  fell  from  the 
burning  wood  in  the  chimney.  For,  as  Pere 
Michel  said,  with  a  true  sense  of  French  econ 
omy,  "  Joy-of-My-Heart  and  I  can  see  each 
other  very  well  by  the  light  of  the  fire,  and 
where  is  the  use  of  burning  tallow,  when  we 
know  the  way  to  our  mouths  !  " 

He  did  not  appear  in  the  least  surprised  to 
see  Elize  at  that  hour  of  the  night;  somehow 


138  PIERRETTE. 

it  seemed  as  if  he  had  been  expecting  her,  and 
knew  beforehand  the  purpose  of  her  visit.  His 
manner  was  kinder  than  usual.  He  bade  her 
take  a  seat;  and,  before  she  was  aware  of  it,  and 
without  a  single  question  from  him,  she  had 
told  him  her  story,  and  how  her  poor  heart  was 
breaking  at  the  thought  of  being  parted  from 
her  little  girl,  and  yet  that  there  was  no  other 
choice  for  her ;  that  it  was  Pierrette's  own  good 
and  not  hers  that  she  must  consider;  and  that 
she  had  come  to  him  that  he  might  help  to 
convince  her  that  she  was  doing  right.  For 
with  each  day  that  passed  she  felt  herself  grow 
ing  weaker  in  her  brave  resolution,  and  needed 
the  help  of  some  friend. 

It  might  have  seemed  odd  to  a  third  person, 
if  there  had  been  one  in  Pere  Michel's  shop,  to 
hear  the  timid  little  woman  pouring  out  her 
feelings  to  that  crusty  old  man,  wholly  forgetful 
of  her  old  fears,  —  indeed,  of  everything  except 
that  she  was  in  great  need  of  human  sympathy. 
Pere  Michel  had  not  uttered  a  single  word,  or 
shown  any  signs  of  impatience  during  her  short 
narrative;  but  he  had  watched  the  little  mother 
very  attentively,  and  had  seemed  to  take  more 


PIERRETTE.  139 

than  ordinary  interest  in  what  she  told  him. 
He  had  not  once  interrupted  her  to  dispute  with 
Joy-of-My-Heart,  who  lay  at  the  old  man's  feet 
and  followed  his  example  by  listening  in 
respectful  silence. 


CHAPTER    XL 

"  AH,  ah,  well,  it  is  good  you  came  to  me  for 
advice,"  said  Pere  Michel,  leaning  forward  to  stir 
up  the  burned  sticks,  when  Elize  had  finished 
speaking.  "  I  should  have  said  nothing,  if 
you  had  not  come  here  of  your  own  will.  It 
is  no  business  of  mine,  and  I  am  not  one  to 
pry  into  other  people's  affairs ;  but,  since  you 
want  advice,  I  will  tell  you  the  truth.  You 
would  better  know  it  now  than  later.  Your  fine 
gentleman,  —  I  know  who  he  is,  I  have  known 
him  a  long  time, —  with  all  his  kindness  and  fine 
offers,  is  a  rascal,  a  polite,  elegant  rascal,  but  a 
rascal  all  the  same,  and  the  less  you  have  to 
deal  with  him,  the  better." 


PIERRETTE.  141 

Elize  gave  a  start.  Pere  Michel  spoke  too 
seriously  for  her  to  mistake  his  words  as  only  in 
jest. 

"  Monsieur  Michel,  what  do  you  mean?  "  she 
asked,  in  a  frightened  voice.  "  I  cannot  hear 
you  speak  so  of  Monsieur  Le  Page.  What  do 
you  know  of  him  that  is  not  worthy?" 

"  A  great  deal  too  much,  my  dear  young 
woman,  —  a  great  deal  more  than  you  would 
approve  if  you  knew.  If  I  am  a  good  judge 
of  people,  and  I  flatter  myself  that  I  have  not 
lived  all  the'se  years  without  becoming  such,  I 
take  it  that  you  are  not  a  woman  to  profit  by 
fraud  and  deceit.  The  rich  can  sometimes  do  it 
with  safety  ;  but  we  poor  wretches  cannot  afford 
to  be  anything  but  honest.  Yet  I  am  not  sorry 
that  it  is  so,  for  the  bread  of  honesty  is  sweet, 
even  if  it  is  eaten  in  a  miserable  little  second 
hand  finery-shop,  and  with  only  a  dog  for  com 
pany." 

Poor  Elize  was  stupefied.  "  I  cannot  under 
stand  you,  Monsieur  Michel.  Pray,  what  is  it? 
Oh,  tell  me  what  it  is  you  know  about  Monsieur 
Le  Page !  though  I  am  sure  I  can  never  believe 
any  wrong  of  him,"  she  added,  unwilling  to  be 


142  PIERRETTE. 

convinced,  and  yet  feeling  that  she  must  know 
what  it  was  that  Pere  Michel  accused  him  of,  if 
only  that  she  might  defend  him. 

The  old  tradesman  moved  impatiently  in  his 
chair  and  faced  Elize  suddenly.  "  Look  at  me  !  " 
he  said  sharply.  "  Do  I  go  about  spinning  tales 
about  my  neighbors?  Does  A.  Michel  take  the 
trouble  to  invent  lies  for  his  amusement?  I  am 
a  man  of  few  words.  I  tell  you  that  what  I 
know  of  your  Sieur  Le  Page  is  true.  I  had  it 
from  his  own  lips.  He  would  have  had  me  to 
help  him  in  his  fraud,  and  paid  me  well  for  it. 
But  I  knew  him  for  an  old  rascal,  old  at  the  art 
of  lying  and  deceiving,  I  mean,  and  he  got  no 
assistance  from  me.  Then  he  finds  you  out, 
Heaven  only  knows  how,  and  plays  the  benefac 
tor  to  you,  poor  little  fool !  and  pays  you  a 
thousand  francs  for  making  a  piece  of  lace 
which  he  is  going  to  sell  for  ten  times  that 
much  to  some  silly  woman  who  is  crazy  after 
old  laces,  and  is  ready  to  pay  a  fortune  for  them. 
With  a  little  saffron  clye,  skillfully  used,  he  will 
make  it  look  for  all  the  world  like  a  genuine  an 
tique  piece,  and  pass  it  off  as  a  century  or  so  old, 
and  as  having  belonged  to  some  celebrated 


PIERRETTE.  143 

queen  or  duchess.  Those  are  his  tricks.  That 
is  how  he  coins  his  money.  He  does  not  do  it 
very  often  ;  it  would  kill  his  trade  if  he  did.  But 
once  in  a  while  he  makes  a  little  fortune  on  a 
deal  like  this,  and  no  one  is  the  wiser;  for  he 
knows  that  I  cannot  hurt  him,  even  though  / 
know  how  he  dupes  them  all,  for  he  deals  with 
the  rich,  and  I  with  the  poor.  But  I  would  take 
none  of  his  money ;  ill-gotten  gain  never  brings 
any  good  with  it,  and  one  might  better  live  in 
poverty  all  one's  days  than  soil  his  conscience 
with  it." 

Pere  Michel  drew  a  large  red  handkerchief 
from  his  pocket,  and  mopped  his  face,  which  had 
grown  very  warm  during  this  long  speech,  the 
like  of  which  he  had  not  made  for  many  days. 
Then  he  blew  his  nose  very  loud,  several  times, 
for  he  had  taken  a  pinch  of  his  favorite  snuff 
after  each  sentence.  "You  have  heard  me," 
he  concluded,  holding  out  his  hand  before  the 
fire,  "and  now  you  are  free  to  do  as  you  choose. 
I  have  done  my  duty,"  and  he  waved  the  subject 
away,  feeling  that  he  had  acquitted  himself 
rather  creditably,  on  the  whole,  of  some  very 
errave  and  disagreeable  business. 


144  PIERRETTE. 

He  had  not  seen  the  poor  little  mother's  face 
while  he  made  his  grave  disclosures  to  her.  The 
flames  had  fallen  very  low ;  but  now  they  flick 
ered  once  or  twice,  enough  to  send  a  faint  yel 
low  light  about  the  room,  and  he  could  see  that 
she  was  very  pale  and  that  her  lips  trembled 
and  her  eyes  had  a  look  of  dismay  in  them  that 
smote  him. 

It  had  all  come  upon  her  so  like  a  revelation. 
She  felt  the  terrible  pang  of  seeing  a  fair  idol 
fallen  down  and  shivered  at  her  feet.  One 
whom  she  had  looked  to  for  every  virtue, — 
courtesy,  gentleness,  integrity,  —  whom  she  had 
learned  to  admire  and  trust  more  than  any  one 
else  she  knew  —  he  was  capable  of  a  base  decep 
tion  ;  he  would  stoop  to  a  dishonest  transaction 
for  the  sake  of  mere  gain ;  and  he  had  come  to 
her  to  help  him  ;  and  she  had  received  his  money 
and  his  benefits,  and  had  been  on  the  eve  of 
giving  up  to  him  her  dearest  treasure,  her  little 
Pierrette !  Ah,  it  was  a  bitter  moment  for  the 
little  woman,  —  bitter,  because  it  is  always  a  sor 
rowful  thing  to  find  we  have  been  deceived  in 
those  we  loved  best,  to  learn  that  their  seem 
ing  kindness  was,  perhaps,  but  a  cover  to  hide 


PIERRETTE.  145 

their  own  selfish  and  unworthy  ends.  She 
was  bewildered ;  her  thoughts  could  find  no  ex 
pression.  Her  little  hands  were  clasped  tightly, 
and  she  gazed  vacantly  from  the  fire  to  Pere 
Michel  and  from  Pere  Michel  to  the  fire. 

"  You  are  sure,  Monsieur  Michel,  very  sure 
that  all  this  is  true?  "  she  said,  for  she  somehow 
clung  to  the  belief  that  there  must  be  some  fatal 
misunderstanding  somewhere,  or  that  she  had 
not  heard  the  old  man  aright. 

"  I  have  said  it  once,"  returned  he,  tartly, 
"  that  is  enough ;  you  may  believe  or  not  as  you 
choose.  Perhaps  it  would  suit  your  wishes  bet 
ter  not  to  believe  it.  In  that  case,  I  have  been 
mistaken  in  you,  that  is  all,  and  I  wash  my  hands 
of  you,"  and  there  was  a  slight  sneer  in  his 
tones. 

"  Oh,  how  can  you  think  that,  Monsieur 
Michel!  "  cried  Elize,  resenting  it;  "how  can 
you  believe  that  I  would  let  my  little  child  go  to 
those  who  are  not  honest  or  noble,  however  much 
might  be  gained  by  it !  "  and  she  rose,  and  her 
gentle  face  flushed  up,  and  a  look  as  nearly  re 
sembling  indignation  as  ever  came  into  her  calm 
eyes  was  in  them  now.  The  old  man's  words 


146  PIERRETTE. 

had  touched  the  most  sensitive  fibre  of  her 
nature,  and  with  them  came  a  sudden  turn  of 
feeling,  and  a  determination  to  show  him  that  he 
had  not  been  mistaken  in  her. 

"  He  shall  not  have  my  precious  little  one,  - 
no,  not  if  he  had  all  the  money  in  Paris  !    And 
he  shall  not  have  the  lace,  although  it  is  finished 
and  has  been  waiting  for  him  these   eight  days. 
We  will  starve  first." 

"  Ah,  now  you  speak  like  a  woman  of  sense 
and  honor,"  said  Michel,  softening  a  little. 

"  But,  oh,"  cried  poor  Elize,  suddenly  remem 
bering,  "  he  has  paid  me  nearly  half  the  price 
of  it,  and  that  is  all  spent.  Where  shall  I  find 
that  much  money  to  return  to  him?  What 
shall  we  do?" 

"  If  you  have  really  made  up  your  mind  to 
have  no  further  dealings  with  that  canaillerie, 
then  you  can  count  on  me  for  help.  First  of 
all,  the  money  must  be  refunded.  I  will  find  a 
purchaser  for  your  lace,  —  one  who  will  buy  it 
with  his  eyes  open,  for  just  what  it  is  and 
nothing  else,  a  beautiful  piece  of  handiwork, 
made  by  one  of  the  most  skillful  needlewomen 
in  Paris  to-day,  and  who  will  pay  for  what  it  is 


PIERRETTE.  147 

really  worth,  not  for  the  number  of  centuries 
that  have  passed  over  it,  or  the  great  hands  that 
have  touched  it.  Until  the  buyer  can  be  found, 
I  will,  myself,  advance  the  money.  How  much 
is  it?"  asked  the  old  man,  abruptly. 

"  Nearly  four  hundred  francs,"  said  Elize, 
quite  overwhelmed  by  this  sudden  mark  of 
interest  from  him.  And,  indeed,  it  was  a  tre 
mendous  proof  of  the  old  tradesman's  regard 
for  her  that  he  should  offer  to  advance  any  sum 
whatsoever;  for  he  was  fond  of  his  gold,  and  he 
had  the  reputation  of  being  a  miser,  and  always 
crying  poverty.  He  disappeared  as  if  by  magic 
into  a  little  closet  whose  door  was  so  neatly 
fitted  into  the  wall  that  one  would  scarcely 
have  suspected  its  existence,  and  re-appeared 
promptly  with  four  crisp,  new  bank-notes 
between  his  fingers. 

"  There,"  he  said,  giving  them  to  Elize,  "  is 
enough  to  rid  you  of  that  monster.  You  can 
pay  me  back  when  we  sell  the  lace,  or  work  for 
me  instead ;  there  is  always  plenty  of  work  here 
for  those  who  want  it,  and  who  do  it  well." 
Then  he  sat  down  again  in  his  big  chair,  and 
rubbed  his  palms  together,  and  shook  his  head 


148  PIERRETTE. 

dubiously,  saying  now  and  then,  "  Aic,  aic,  aic, 
it  is  a  hard  world,  this,  a  very  hard  world  !  " 

Elize  went  to  him  and  held  out  her  hand. 
She  could  not  thank  him  in  words.  Her  voice 
was  choked  with  the  conflicting  emotions  that 
troubled  her  gentle  breast.  She  looked  up  at 
him  with  tears  in  her  large  eyes,  and  the  pres 
sure  of  her  delicate  fingers  told  him  that  her 
heart  was  grateful,  —  grateful  for  his  help, 
grateful  for  the  generous  impulse  that  had 
prompted  him  to  stretch  out  a  friendly  hand  to 
her,  just  as  he  saw  her  hovering  on  the  brink  of 
a  great  danger. 

"  Have  courage,  my  little  woman,"  he  said 
kindly,  as  he  opened  the  door  for  her  to  pass 
out.  "  Heaven  is  bound  to  help  those  who  do 
right." 

And  when  he  returned  to  his  fireside  he  was 
obliged  to  have  a  serious  tussle  with  Joy-of-My- 
Heart,  for  no  apparent  reason,  except  perhaps 
that  his  feelings  had  got  the  better  of  him,  and- 
he  had  no  other  way  of  giving  vent  to  them. 

That  night  he  remained  a  long  time  shut  up 
in  the  little  closet  \vith  the  invisible  door.  He 
took  his  candle  with  him,  and  what  he  did  there 


He  was  obliged  to  have  a  serious  tussle  with  Joy-of-My  heart." 


PIERRETTE.  151 

remained  a  secret  even  to  Joy-of-My-Heart,  who 
was  never  admitted  to  that  innermost  place  of 
confidence.  When  he  emerged  from  its  depths, 
several  hours  later,  you  might  have  guessed 
that  he  had  been  about  some  very  important 
and  perplexing  business ;  for  his  few  locks  of 
hair  were  in  a  state  of  sad  disorder,  and  his  face 
very  red  with  suppressed  emotion,  and  the 
fingers  of  his  right  hand  were  bedaubed  with 
ink,  and  a  tremendous  blot  adorned  the  end  of 
his  nose. 

Elize  hurried  out  into  the  street.  It  had 
grown  late,  and  the  night  was  very  cold.  Hardly 
conscious  of  what  she  did,  she  made  her  way 
through  the  little,  narrow  streets,  and  was  soon 
back  to  the  old  house,  —  the  old  house  that  had 
begun  to  look  bare  and  dismal  and  poor  to  her, 
since  the  prospect  of  leaving  it  for  something 
better  had  been  held  out  to  her.  How  much 
more  dingy  and  miserable  it  seemed  that  night, 
now  that  she  must  come  back  to  it  with  her 
hopes  and  bright  dreams  of  prosperity  all  fled  ! 
They  must  give  up  all  their  little  comforts,  and 
she  must  work  harder  than  ever  now,  in  order 
to  pay  Monsieur  Michel.  She  felt  that  they 


15,2  PIERRETTE. 

could  never  again  bfe  even  as  contented  as  they 
had  been  before  they  knew  Monsieur  Le  Page 
and  his  benefits;  for  that  is  the  especial  cruelty 
of  broken  hopes,  —  they  make  the  blindness  of 
past  contentment  no  longer  possible.  They 
open  the  eyes  to  such  fair  visions  of  happiness 
that  we  can  never  go  back  to  our  old  life  and 
be  at  peace  with  it. 

But  when  she  entered  the  little  garret-room, 
and  felt  its  genial  atmosphere  of  homeliness, 
and  saw  the  little  girl  asleep  on  her  cot,  smiling 
in  her  dreams,  the  young  mother  fell  upon  her 
knees  and  thanked  Heaven  for  the  comfort  that 
stole  into  her  heart  at  the  thought  that  she 
might  now  keep  Pierrette.  No,  there  would  be 
no  dreadful  parting;  they  could  still  be  together, 
and  live  for  each  other  alone;  and  was  not  this 
better  than  all  the  treasures  and  riches  in  the 
world? 


CHAPTER   XII. 

WHEN  the  morning  came,  the  little  mother's 
most  painful  task  was  to  tell  Pierrette  of  the 
change  that  had  come  in  their  plans  and  hopes. 
She  could  give  the  girl  no  reason  for  it ;  she 
could  not  bear  to  think  that  her  trustful  child- 
nature  should  even  hear  of  wrong-doing.  Some 
thing  had  happened,  —  she  could  not  explain  to 
Pierrette  just  what,  for  she  was  too  young  to 
understand, —  but  she  would  not  go  and  live  with 
the  rich  gentleman ;  and  maman  would  not  do 
any  more  work  for  him;  and  they  would  per 
haps  never  see  him  again. 

The  child  was  greatly  puzzled  ;  but  there  was 
no  regret  in  her  voice  when  she  asked :  "  And 
are  we  to  go  on  living  together,  petite  mere, 


154  PIERRETTE. 

you  and  I,  in  this  little  room,  always?  Oh,  that 
is  better  than  everything,  better  than  living  in  a 
beautiful  house  where  you  would  not  be  !  " 

"  And,  Pierrette,"  added  the  little  mother, 
taking  the  child  in  her  arms,  and  lavishing 
caresses  upon  her,  as  if  to  soothe  what  she 
fancied  might  be  a  greater  disappointment  to 
her,  "  I  must  ask  you  to  give  up  the  gold-piece 
which  Monsieur  Le  Page  gave  you  ;  it  will  not 
be  right  for  you  to  keep  it  now." 

"  Is  Monsieur  Le  Page  in  trouble,  petite 
mere?  Has  he  lost  all  his  money?  "  asked  the 
little  girl,  with  an  anxious  look. 

"  He  has  lost  something  that  is  worth  more 
than  money,"  was  all  that  Elizc  said. 

Pierrette  thought,  with  a  little  pang,  of  how 
she  would  have  to  go  that  very  morning  and 
tell  Pere  Michel  that  she  would  not  be  able  to 
buy  the  watch  for  her  mother  after  all.  That 
was,  I  think,  her  deepest  regret.  But  she  gave 
up  her  coin  cheerfully,  and  felt  very  sorry 
for  their  kind  friend,  she  said,  and  wondered 
secretly  what  it  all  meant,  and  why  she  should 
never  again  see  the  handsome  monsieur  who 
had  wanted  to  make  her  his  little  girl. 


PIERRETTE.  155 

While  Elize  and  Pierrette  were  trying  to 
reconcile  themselves  to  their  altered  fortunes, 
Monsieur  Le  Page  was  at  that  very  moment  on 
his  way  to  the  attic  of  the  old  house.  He  was 
coming,  not  without  some  misgivings,  to  receive 
the  little  mother's  answer  about  Pierrette,  and 
to  get  his  beautiful  piece  of  old  lace,  which  was 
to  be  delivered  to  its  purchaser  that  very  day. 
He  had  meant  to  come  sooner,  for  he  knew  the 
work  would  be  finished ;  but,  strangely  enough 
for  him,  he  had  dreaded  taking  the  final  step. 
He  almost  wished  that  he  had  never  entered 
into  this  transaction  about  the  lace.  It  was  the 
hardest  thing  he  had  ever  done  in  his  life  to 
deceive  that  little  woman,  and  that  pretty  child 
for  whom  he  had  conceived  such  an  unusual 
fondness.  It  pleased  him  that  they  should 
admire  him  and  trust  him.  He  had  never 
before  known  a  little  child's  love;  and  already 
it  was  beginning  to  make  a  better  man  of  him. 
He  thought  of  all  that  he  would  do  to  keep  that 
trust;  in  what  ways  he  would  make  her  happy, 
and  how  carefully  he  would  guard  her  from 
knowing  any  wrong  of  him. 

That  was  perhaps  not  the  best  way  of  retain- 


156  PIERRETTE. 

ing  any  fellow-creature's  trust  and  confidence, 
to  seem  only  to  be  worthy.  He  had  not  learned 
that  we  can  never  be  quite  true  to  others  if  we 
are  not  true  to  ourselves ;  that  time  had  not  yet 
come  for  him.  But  he  was  beginning  to  be 
conscious  of  his  deficiencies,  and  that  was  a 
great  point  gained  in  his  favor.  Several  times 
during  the  weeks  that  passed,  he  had  set  out 
with  the  intention  of  coming  to  Klize.  He 
wished  first  of  all  to  settle  that  matter  about  the 
lace ;  when  it  was  sold  and  out  of  his  hands,  he 
would  breathe  more  freely,  and  could  talk  to  her 
about  taking  the  little  girl  with  much  better  grace. 
That  transaction  about  the  lace  troubled  him 
more  than  he  liked  to  acknowledge,  even  to 
himself;  and  he  made  up  his  mind  that  he 
would  not  soon  again  enter  upon  another  such. 

So  the  days  had  gone  by,  and  he  had  not 
come;  each  time  something  had  held  him  back. 
And  Elize  had  waited  for  him  and  wondered, 
and  finally,  in  her  anxiety,  had  been  led  to  go  to 
Pere  Michel,  who  had  told  her  everything.  And 
now  the  tide  of  her  feelings  was  turned,  and  she 
could  never  greet  him  with  that  same  friendly 
trust,  or  forget  that  he  had  sought  her  help  in  a 
dishonorable  deed. 


PIERRETTE.  157 

How  strangely  does  fate  sometimes  interpose 
in  the  best  laid  plans  of  men  !  If  Monsieur  Le 
Page  had  not  waited,  if  he  had  come  but  three 
days  before,  he  would  have  found  the  little 
mother  with  her  feelings  towards  him  un 
changed,  and  ready  to  serve  him  and  believe 
him  in  everything.  She  would  not  have  gone 
to  Pere  Michel  with  her  confidence,  and  might 
never  have  known  exactly  what  Monsieur  Le 
Page  purposed  doing  with  the  beautiful  piece 
of  lace.  Ah,  and  she  would  still  have  intrusted 
to  him  her  little  girl,  to  the  child's  greater 
happiness?  —  who  shall  say! 

But  Monsieur  Le  Page  suspected  nothing  of 
all  this,  as  he  ascended  the  stairs  of  the  old 
house.  He  had  no  idea  that  those  few  days  of 
procrastination  could  work  such  a  change  in  his 
plans  and  life,  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  little 
mother  and  Pierrette ;  that  through  them  he 
was  to  learn  a  great  lesson  in  righteousness. 

He  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  little  room, 
and  it  was  some  minutes  before  Elize  appeared. 
But  the  moment  he  saw  her  face,  he  knew  that 
something  had  happened  ;  and  he  felt  an  uncom 
fortable  tremor  in  her  presence.  She  had  known 


158  PIERRETTE. 

it  was  he  ;  she  recognized  his  gentlemanly  rap. 
So  few  persons  ever  came  to  see  them,  it  was 
not  strange ;  and  no  one  else  ever  visited  them 
at  that  early  hour  of  the  morning.  Pierrette 
had  gone  down  to  see  how  old  Jeanneton  had 
fared  during  the  night,  and  Elize  was  thankful 
that  the  child  was  not  near  to  hear  what  she 
said  to  Monsieur  Le  Page.  Her  heart  was  beat 
ing  very  fast,  and  her  breath  came  quickly.  She 
needed  all  her  courage  to  meet  him  now,  and  to 
hold  fast  to  her  resolution.  For  this  gentleman 
had  a  quiet,  persuasive  manner,  a  gentle  firm 
ness,  that  made  it  almost  impossible  for  people 
to  resist  him.  He  sat  down,  as  was  his  wont, 
before  beginning  to  speak,  and  then  made  a  few 
vague  excuses  about  his  delayed  return. 

"  I  have  been  detained,"  he  said,  "  by  a  mul 
titude  of  circumstances.  Business,  Madame,  is 
a  most  absorbing  thing.  Now,  if  you  please, 
we  will  attend  first  to  the  matter  of  the  lace.  It 
is  finished,  is  it  not?  Ah,  I  knew  it;  you  never 
fail  in  your  promises,  and  that  is  the  secret  of 
success  in  any  line  of  business ;  it  has  been  the 
secret  of  mine.  I  have  brought  you  the  remain 
ing  six  hundred  francs,  That  sum  may  help  you 


PIERRETTE.  159 

and  Pierrette  to  pass  the  Christmas  feast  pleas 
antly  to-morrow.  Ah,  Madame!  what  is  it? 
You  are  very  pale ;  are  you  not  well  —  "  Mon 
sieur  Le  Page  broke  off  suddenly,  when  he  saw 
the  look  that  came  into  her  face. 

Elize  was  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room ; 
she  had  made  no  movement  to  greet  him.  Her 
tongue  clung  to  the  roof  of  her  mouth;  she 
could  scarcely  find  her  voice.  Oh,  how  could  she 
believe  it  of  him  !  —  of  this  kindly,  courteous 
gentleman  whose  gentle  manner  had  won  their 
young  hearts;  how  could  she  believe  any  ill  of 
him  as  he  stood  there  before  her  now,  so  kindly 
solicitous,  and,  to  her  innocent  eyes,  so  noble- 
looking  !  Poor  little  woman,  she  was  so  full  of 
sensibility  herself,  that  it  caused  her  a  greater 
pang  to  have  to  confront  him  with  an  accusa 
tion  than  she  had  ever  felt  in  her  simple  life 
before.  "  Monsieur,"  she  said  at  length,  making 
a  great  effort  to  speak  steadily,  "  it  is  a  very 
difficult  thing  for  me  to  speak  to  a  gentleman 
of  your  position  as  I  must  speak  to  you  this 
morning.  It  is  doubly  hard  after  all  your  past 
generosity.  Believe  me  when  I  say  that  I  do  it 
only  for  my  honor's  sake.  You  found  us  poor, 


160  PIERRETTE. 

Pierrette  and  me ;  we  shall  be  still  poorer  now, 
but  we  will  remain  honest.  Our  honor  is  all  we 
have  ;  but  it  is  very  precious  to  us,  more  pre 
cious  than  your  wealth." 

Elize  had  spoken  rapidly,  and  with  quickening 
breath,  as  if  every  word  had  cost  her  an  effort. 
But  she  had  gathered  courage  as  she  went  on  ; 
and  the  firm  belief  that  she  was  doing  right 
made  her  seem,  as  she  stood  before  him  with 
her  young  face  flushed  and  her  candid  eyes 
looking  straight  into  his,  by  far  the  stronger  of 
the  two. 

For  the  first  time  since  she  had  known  him,, 
she  saw  Monsieur  Lc  Page  lose  his  rigid  self- 
control.  A  deathly  pallor  overspread  his  fea 
tures,  and  a  frightened  look  came  into  his  eyes, 
and  his  fingers  began  to  twitch  nervously.  He 
made  an  effort  to  appear  calm,  but  it  was  use 
less  ;  and  if  poor,  trusting  little  Elize  had  cher 
ished  any  lingering  doubt  as  to  the  truth  of 
Pere  Michel's  accusation,  that  sudden  transfor 
mation  in  him  was  quite  enough  to  dispel  it. 

"But,  Madame,"  he  said,  in  a  feeble  voice  of 
apology,  "  I  do  not  understand  your  meaning 
—  explain  yourself,  pray!  " 


" '  But,  Madame,'  he  said,  in  a  feeble  voice  of  apology, '  I  do  not 
understand.' " 


PIERRETTE.  163 

"  There  is  little  to  explain,  Monsieur,  it  is  sim 
ply  that  I  cannot  consent  to  let  you  have  the 
lace ;  I  was  ignorant  of  your  purpose  when  I 
promised  to  make  it.  I  did  not  know  that  you 
intended  to  pass  it  for  something  that  it  is  not. 
If  you  had  told  me,  I  should  never  have  given 
my  work  to  further  a  dishonorable  dealing,  any 
more  than  would  Monsieur  Michel.  It  is  bet 
ter  for  me  to  work  for  him  at  thirty  sous  a  day, 
than  to  earn  a  thousand  francs  deceitfully.  I 
will  keep  the  lace;  it  will  never  bring  as  much  as 
you  have  offered  me ;  but  some  one  will  surely 
buy  it,  for  it  is  beautiful,  and  I  have  taken  pains 
in  making  it,  and  —  and  —  now,  Pierrette  and  I 
will  not  part,  even  though  we  remain  poor 
always.  Oh,  Monsieur  !  "  and  here  the  little 
mother's  voice  broke  into  sobs,  "  I  would  have 
given  you  my  treasure !  I  would  have  parted 
with  my  darling  because  I  trusted  you  and 
believed  in  your  goodness !  " 

Monsieur  Le  Page  felt  a  cold  stream  about 
his  heart,  and  a  sickening  sense  of  fear  and  dis 
appointment  seemed  to  envelop  him.  For  once 
he  was  himself.  His  ghastly  pallor  and  the  ex 
pression  of  intense  anguish  upon  his  features 


164  PIERRETTE. 

showed  that  now,  at  least,  he  was  not  dissimu 
lating.  There  is  always  something  about  genu 
ine  emotion  that  excites  compassion.  The  little 
mother's  heart  ached  for  him  at  that  moment 
more  than  it  had  ever  done  for  her  own  misfor 
tunes.  She  wished  that  she  might  help  him  in 
some  way,  wished  that  she  were  strong  enough 
and  good  enough  to  turn  his  heart  into  the  ways 
of  righteousness.  She  did  not  know  how  much 
her  brave,  upright  spirit  had  already  done  for 
him :  how  in  one  short  moment  the  power  of 
her  innocent  young  nature  had  had  its  gentle, 
benign  influence  upon  his  hard  one.  She  could 
see  that  he  was  suffering  some  terrible  mental 
anguish.  Was  it  at  the  loss  of  his  worldly 
gain?  Ah,  no,  he  had  quite  lost  sight  of  that 
now  !  It  was  the  loss  of  that  young  woman's 
respect,  the  loss  of  that  little  child's  love  when 
they  told  her  ill  of  him,  the  loss  of  those  two 
dear  simple  creatures'  trust,  which  had  grown 
sweet  to  him,  that  most  appalled  him.  He 
could  not  meet  her  candid  gaze  now;  he  knew 
that  he  could  not  clear  himself  in  her  eyes  by 
a  denial  of  the  charge  brought  against  him,  or 
any  feeble  explanations.  And  he  realized  how 


PIERRETTE.  165 

precious  a  thing  her  trust  had  been,  now  that 
he  had  lost  it. 

That  little  woman,  hidden  away  there  in  that 
old  attic,  simple  and  untaught  as  she  was,  had 
been  able  to  teach  him  the  worth  of  honor. 
She  was  poor,  and  ignorant  of  many  things, 
perhaps  ;  but  she  had  opened  the  way  of  truth  to 
him.  He  saw  now  the  worthlessness  of  worldly 
pomp.  She  had  preferred  to  remain  poor  rather 
than  profit  by  gain  that  was  ill-acquired.  What 
were  all  his  riches  to  her?  She  had  her  honor, 
and  everything  that  was  in  conflict  with  it 
seemed  miserable  and  contemptible  to  her. 

Monsieur  Le  Page  could  not  account  for  the 
sudden  turn  of  his  long  established  feelings. 
Indeed,  he  did  not  try  to  account  for  it.  He 
only  yielded  to  the  gentle  influence  of  good, 
and  found  some  comfort  in  doing  so.  He  knew 
that  this  woman,  with  all  her  youth  and  timidity 
and  her  lowly  condition,  was  his  superior. 

What  was  it,  indeed,  that  gave  these  simple 
people  so  strong  a  sense  of  right?  Had  not 
even  old  Michel  shown  himself  strong  in  his 
adherence  to  it?  But  the  old  man's  example 
alone  had  not  been  sufficient  to  move  this  fine 


1 66  PIERRETTE. 

gentleman's  sensibilities.  It  had  taken  little 
Elize,  with  her  pure  young  soul  shining  in  her 
lovely  face,  to  touch  the  eyes  of  this  cold  un 
scrupulous  man  with  a  colly rium  that  made  his 
blindness  to  justice  and  truth  no  longer  possible. 
When  he  turned  away  from  the  little  garret  that 
morning,  he  was  a  changed  man.  lie  had  come 

o  *  o 

purposing  to  continue  in  his  deceit,  seeking 
only  to  hide  it  more  skillfully  from  those  whose 
good  opinion  he  wished  to  retain  ;  but  when 
he  went  away,  he  had  made  the  brave  resolve 
to  undeceive  himself,  first  of  all,  and  then  deceit 
to  others  would  no  longer  be  necessary.  And 
a  resolution  with  Monsieur  Le  Page  was  always 
a  serious  thing,  and  one  that  must  be  achieved 
at  all  costs. 


CHAPTER    XIIL 

THE  morrow  was  Christmas-day,  —  a  white, 
clear,  joyous  Christmas,  when  every  thing  and 
creature  in  the  gay  city  should  have  been 
blessed  with  a  glad  heart.  But  poor  little 
Elize's  heart  that  morning  was  heavier  than  it 
had  been  for  many  a  day.  She  had  spent  the 
night  in  tears.  She  had  wept,  not  so  much  at 
the  loss  of  what  had  seemed  to  be  such  a  fair 
future  for  them,  not  at  the  thought  of  the  old 
life  of  hardship  and  labor  that  she  must  return 
to,  for  she  was  a  brave  little  woman,  but  at  the 
loss  of  a  friend.  She  had  known  so  few  friends 
in  the  course  of  her  simple,  quiet  life,  so  few 
people  who  really  understood  her,  and  gave  her 
the  gentle  consideration  which  she  loved,  until 


168  PIERRETTE. 

she  had  known  Monsieur  Le  Page.  And  now, 
alas,  it  must  all  come  to  an  end.  She  must 
never  see  him  again  ;  she  must  not  even  remem 
ber  him,  remember  his  benevolence,  and  the 
pleasure  his  brief  friendship  had  brought.  Ah, 
it  was  a  pitiful  thing !  —  and  the  little  mother, 
with  her  strong,  affectionate  nature,  her  grateful 
knowledge  of  all  his  kindnesses  to  them,  found 
it  very  difficult  not  to  think  of  him  often,  and  in 
her  heart  to  forgive  him.  For  it  is  the  better 
part  of  good  women  to  deal  less  harshly  with 
others'  wrongs  than  with  their  own.  She  prayed 
for  him,  it  was  all  that  she  could  do ;  but  who 
shall  say  that  those  silent,  fervent  prayers  were 
not  heard  and  answered? 

They  spent  a  very  quiet  day  in  the  little  attic, 
Pierrette  and  her  mother.  They  had  been  to 
the  early  mass,  and  come  home  to  their  simple 
morning  meal,  which  was  even  more  frugal  than 
usual.  There  were  no  Christmas  gifts  for  them, 
no  merry-making  and  feasting  such  as  might 
have  been  found  in  almost  any  home  that  bright 
morning,  for  they  were  entirely  alone  in  the  big 
city,  and  the  few  persons  they  knew  were  even 
worse  off  than  themselves.  Elize  was  sad,  and 


PIERRETTE.  1 69 

her  smile  was  cheerless  all  that  day ;  and  little 
Pierrette  could  not  be  quite  her  happy  self, 
when  she  thought  of  the  little  watch  in  Pere 
Michel's  shop,  that  should  have  been  maman's, 
if  everything  had  not  happened  so  strangely; 
and  that  poor  little  Francois  and  Jeanneton  and 
the  chiffonnier  would  none  of  them  receive  the 
little  tokens  she  had  planned  for  their  surprise. 

In  the  evening  they  two  sat  beside  the  small 
round  table,  under  the  lamp,  and  the  young 
mother  repeated  to  Pierrette  the  story  of  the 
Nativity:  how  the  Infant  Jesus  himself  was 
born  in  lowliness;  how  He,  the  king  of  all 
men,  had  come  to  this  earth  as  an  innocent 
babe  that  we  might  all  be  saved,  and  to  teach 
us  to  bear  all  our  woes  with  courage.  Elize, 
who  had  a  sweet  pious  nature,  found  comfort 
in  this  thought;  for  she  had  great  need  of  that 
example  of  courage  now. 

Pierrette  had  heard  the  story  many  times, 
but  she  never  grew  tired  of  listening  to  it.  It 
was  all  a  beautiful  mystery  to  her  young  im 
agination.  She  had  gazed  that  morning  at  the 
brilliant  lights  and  the  flowers  in  the  church, 
and  heard  the  angelic  music  of  the  choristers, 


I/O  PIERRETTE. 

and  she  felt  that  it  was  a  time  of  great  rejoicing, 
and  that  although  they  had  had  no  gifts  from 
one  another,  and  maman  had  seemed  sorrowful 
all  day,  she  knew  that  she  had  cause  to  be  glad 
because  of  the  great  love  that  had  been  given  to 
all  the  world  in  the  coming  of  that  little  Child. 

They  had  been  talking  together  some  little 
time,  when  they  were  interrupted  by  a  strange 
sound  out  in  the  hall,  as  if  some  one  were  grop 
ing  in  the  dark.  There  was  a  heavy  bumping 
and  scratching  against  their  door,  and  then  a 
mighty  scrambling  down  the  narrow  stairway,  as 
if  a  very  stout  man  and  a  troublesome  dog  were 
fighting  for  the  right  of  way.  Elize  and  Pier 
rette  started  up  at  once  and  ran  to  the  door. 
The  corridor  was  perfectly  black,  and  they 
could  see  nothing.  The  little  mother  brought 
the  lamp,  and  held  it  over  the  banister;  but 
by  this  time  there  was  no  one  to  be  seen. 
They  could  only  hear  the  retreating  steps  of 
the  intruders  away  down  on  the  lower  flights, 
and  now  and  then  a  suppressed  sh — !  and  a 
little  yelp  that  reverberated  against  the  damp 
stone  walls  as  if  the  sounds  had  come  from 
some  very  deep  well. 


PIERRETTE.  I/I 

"Who  can  it  be  at  this  hour  of  the  evening!" 
said  the  little  mother,  wondering,  as  they  turned 
back  to  re-enter  their  room. 

"  Oh,  perhaps  it  is  Pere  Noel !  "  l  cried  Pier 
rette,  laughing  as  she  caught  sight  of  a  large 
basket  that  stood  almost  in  the  doorway ;  it 
was  a  wonder  they  had  not  upset  it  when  they 
ran  out  into  the  hall.  "  Look,  look,  petite  mere, 
it  is  a  Christmas-basket ;  there  are  flowers  on 
top  !  It  must  be  Pere  Noel  who  brought  it  to 
us ;  and  that  is  why  he  is  running  away  so  fast," 
and  Pierrete  laughed  again,  for  she  was  such  a 
wise  and  sensible  little  girl  that  she  had  long 
since  outgrown  that  childish  belief.  "  Come, 
let  us  open  it  and  see  what  is  in  it !  "  and  she 
clapped  her  hands  with  delight. 

They  brought  the  mysterious  basket  under 
the  light  of  the  lamp,  and  emptied  its  contents 
on  the  table.  They  found  underneath  the  few 
homely  flowers  and  green  leaves  a  variety  of 
objects  that  made  little  Pierrette's  eyes  round 
with  astonishment.  If  you  will  believe  me,  it 
contained  nearly  all  the  things  that  Pierrette 
had  wished  for:  a  little  box  of  colors,  with 
1  Santa  Claus. 


1 72  PIERRETTE. 

several  different  sizes  of  brushes,  and  all  the 
shades  of  the  rainbow,  for  Francois ;  a  pair  of 
warm  woollen  wristlets  of  a  beautiful  red,  for 
the  old  chiffonnier  ;  a  little  package  of  fragrant 
tea-leaves  for  Jeanneton ;  and  a  large  cornuco 
pia  of  Christmas  bonbons  for  herself;  and  in 
the  centre  of  it  was  just  such  another  yellow 
coin  as  Monsieur  Le  Page  had  given  her  some 
weeks  ago,  quite  as  large  and  brilliant,  wrapped 
in  a  piece  of  white  paper,  on  which  was  written, 
in  very  singular  chirography,  "  For  a  little  girl 
with  a  golden  heart." 

Pierrette  was  mystified.  It  really  seemed  as 
if  some  sly  little  fairy  had  peeped  into  her  eyes 
that  morning  and  seen  all  her  wishes  there ;  but 
she  was  inclined  to  believe  that  it  all  came  from 
the  kind  monsieur  who  had  sometimes  sent  them 
little  surprises ;  but  Elize  shook  her  head  and 
said,  "  Oh,  no,  that  could  not  be  !  "  but  when 
they  carne  to  the  very  bottom  of  the  basket, 
and  brought  out  a  little  leather  box  with  a  tiny 
gilded  padlock  and  key,  and  upon  opening  it 
found  the  little  watch  that  Pierrette  had  coveted 
for  her  mother,  the  treasure  of  Pere  Michel's 
shop,  then  Pierrette  danced  about  the  room  for 


"  Look,  look,  petite  mere,  it  is  a  Christmas  basket." 


PIERRETTE.  1/5 

joy,  like  a  little  elf,  and  clapped  her  hands,  and 
cried,  "  Oh,  petite  mere,  now  we  cannot  say 
that  this  has  not  been  a  merry  Christmas,  can 
we?"  and  she  kissed  her  maman  ecstatically. 
And  the  poor  little  mother  was  all  but  in  tears 
when  she  heard  Pierrette's  account  of  her  inter 
view  with  the  old  man  about  the  watch. 

"  We  still  have  a  friend,  my  Pierrette,  it  is 
Pere  Michel;  how  kind  and  generous  of  him !  " 

And  who  indeed  but  Pere  Michel  had  such  a 
remarkable  way  of  finding  out  people's  thoughts 
and  wishes,  and  such  an  eccentric  way  of  grati 
fying  them !  It  must  be  confessed,  however, 
that  this  was  the  first  time  in  Pere  Michel's  life, 
perhaps,  that  he  had  played  the  part  of  a  bene 
factor.  He  was  usually  regarded  as  an  old  miser 
who  cared  for  no  one  but  himself  and  his 
poodle ;  but  this  had  been  an  exceptional  case 
with  the  old  man,  —  the  case  of  Pierrette  and  the 
little  mother,  and  these  two  simple  souls  had  a 
way,  all  unconscious  to  themselves,  of  drawing 
even  the  hardest  hearted  people  to  them  and 
making  themselves  beloved. 

Pere  Michel  had  not  been  to  church  that 
Christmas  day,  or  said  many  prayers.  Indeed,  I 


1/6  PIERRETTE. 

doubt  if  he  ever  said  any  at  all.  But  he  went 
back  to  his  little  shop  with  the  feeling  that  he 
had  done  a  religious  duty.  He  had  seen  the 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  unselfishness  in  both 
the  mother  and  the  little  girl,  and  he  had  wished 
to  reward  it ;  because,  as  he  afterwards  explained 
to  himself,  with  a  wise  nod,  Providence  does  not 
always  look  to  these  things,  and  he  did  not 
mean  to  run  any  chances  of  their  being  disap 
pointed. 

Pierrette  went  down,  as  soon  as  her  joy  was  a 
little  under  control,  and  distributed  her  presents 
to  her  friends.  And  these  felt,  no  doubt,  that  her 
bright  little  face  and  merry  laugh,  and  the  kind 
words  she  brought  them,  were  the  best  part 
of  her  gifts.  She  related  to  each  one  how  mys 
teriously  the  basket  was  brought  to  their  door, 
just  as  they  were  beginning  to  think  that  they 
should  have  no  presents  at  all.  And  so  it  was 
that  the  day  ended  happily  for  Pierrette  and  her 
little  mother,  even  though  it  had  begun  in  sad 
ness;  for  the  little  girl's  dearest  wish  had  been 
realized,  and  Elize  discovered  that  they  had 
made  another  friend. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE  rest  of  that  winter  was  a  busy  time  for 
them.  Elize  was  obliged  to  work  very  hard  ;  for 
she  must  pay  her  debt  to  Pere  Michel,  and  make 
enough  for  herself  and  Pierrette  to  live  upon 
besides.  The  old  man  was  more  lenient  than 
usual,  and  often  told  her  not  to  be  over-anxious, 
that  some  fine  day  he  would  find  a  purchaser 
for  her  beautiful  piece  of  lace,  and  then  he 
should  pay  himself,  and  all  would  be  right.  But 
the  winter  melted  into  spring,  and  no  one  came 
to  buy,  for  most  of  Pere  Michel's  customers  were 
of  the  poorer  classes,  and  had  no  use  for  such  a 
bit  of  luxury,  nor  would  they  have  paid  its 
price ;  and  the  old  man  would  not  let  it  go  for 
a  paltry  sum,  because  he  knew  its  worth. 


178  PIERRETTE. 

Once  in  a  while  the  ladies  who  came  to  him 
to  dispose  of  their  old  finery,  being  no  doubt  in 
need  of  money  themselves,  would  stop  and  eye 
the  exquisite  piece  of  work,  and  would  hold  up 
their  hands  in  despair  at  the  price  he  had  set 
upon  it.  So  it  lay  there  in  the  old  chest,  month 
after  month,  and  Elize  sighed  every  time  she 
went  into  the  old  man's  shop  and  saw  it  there ; 
for  it  recalled  many  bright  hopes  she  had 
stitched  into  it,  and  the  brief  happiness  she  had 
known  and  could  not  forget. 

One  day  in  the  spring,  when  Paris  is  at  its 
gayest,  and  the  broad  smooth  avenues  of  the 
city  are  delicately  shaded  with  the  new  growth 
of  leaves,  and  the  flower-vendors  display  their 
brilliant  masses  of  blossoms  at  the  foot  of  some 
old  gray  stone  palace,  and  the  air  is  filled  with 
sunshine  and  the  songs  of  young  birds,  Pere 
Michel,  no  doubt  stirred  into  a  spirit  of  adven 
ture  by  the  joyous  awakening  of  all  nature 
around  him,  was  strolling  across  one  of  the 
arched  bridges  of  the  Seine,  the  one  leading  to 
the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  which  is  the  centre  and 
rendezvous  of  all  the  brilliant  world  on  a  pleas 
ant  April  day.  It  was  not  a  holiday,  except  that 


PIERRETTE.  179 

with  the  Parisians  all  days  are  holidays  in  the 
early  spring-time,  and  every  one  looks  upon  it 
as  a  duty  to  enjoy  to  his  utmost  these  first 
sweet  pleasures  of  nature.  To  one  who  like 
old  Michel  spent  so  many  of  his  days  in  a  dingy 
little  shop  in  that  damp,  gray  court  of  the  rue 
des  Anges,  a  day  on  the  other  side  of  the  Seine, 
where  all  seems  bright  and  festive,  and  has  the 
aspect  of  being  entirely  given  up  to  enjoyment, 
is  a  veritable  treat.  He  glanced  approvingly 
down  at  the  innumerable  little  boats  shooting 
under  the  graceful  bridges  of  the  Seine,  filled  with 
the  gay  crowd  bound  on  some  pleasure  trip  be 
yond  the  city  ;  at  the  throng  of  carriages  rolling 
up  and  down  the  avenue  of  the  Champs  Elysees  ; 
at  the  waters  of  the  fountains  in  the  gardens  of 
the  Tuileries  dancing  in  the  sunlight,  and  the 
children  playing  around  their  basins;  at  the 
nursemaids  listening  to  the  confidences  of  some 
gay  young  soldier  in  uniform ;  at  old  citizens 
sitting  about  on  benches,  quietly  reading  their 
newspapers :  and  Pere  Michel's  bosom  swelled 
with  pride,  and  he  felt,  as  every  Parisian  of  the 
poorer  classes  always  feels  in  the  midst  of  such  a 
scene,  that  he  was  in  a  great  measure  responsible 


I  SO  PIERRETTE. 

for  this  splendor  and  display,  and  general  atmos 
phere  of  life  and  prosperity. 

But  while  Pere  Michel  was  enjoying  his  out 
ing  conscientiously  >  he  was  not  on  this  side  of 
the  Seine  wholly  without  purpose.  He  seldom, 
if  ever,  failed  to  couple  business  with  pleasure. 
He  made  his  way  after  a  little  time  to  the  rue  de 
Rivoli,  which  fronts  the  palace  gardens,  sauntered 
leisurely  under  its  wide  arcades,  looking  in  at  the 
shop-windows,  and  humming  a  tuneless  air  to 
himself.  He  was  meditating  a  bold  venture.  He 
knew  of  several  rich  dealers  in  the  rue.  The}-  did 
not  know  him,  but  that  was  an  accident.  They 
made  a  specialty  of  laces,  —  of  beautiful  fine 
hand-work,  which  they  did  not  pass  off  for  famed 
antiques,  like  that  handsome  rogue,  Le  Page. 
On  the  contrary,  they  dealt  only  in  novelties. 
He  had  thought  for  some  time  of  taking  Elize's 
work  to  them,  to  see  how  much  they  would 
offer  for  it.  On  his  way  thither  he  had  to  pass 
the  fine  establishment  belonging  to  Monsieur 
Le  Page,  and  he  was  preparing  to  shake  his  fist 
at  it,  and  to  call  down  a  thousand  maledictions 
upon  its  proprietor,  by  the  way,  when,  to  his 
amazement,  as  he  neared  the  well-known  corner, 


PIERRETTE.  l8l 

he  found  that  the  place  was  closed,  that  the 
lar-ge  sign  with  its  golden  letters  had  been  taken 
clown,  and  that  every  trace  of  Monsieur  Le  Page 
and  his  traffic  had  disappeared. 

Pere  Michel  scratched  his  head  and  winked 
very  hard  several  times;  he  could  not  believe 
his  eyes.  What  could  it  all  mean  !  The  wealthy 
shop  that  had  stood  there  for  so  many  years, 
with  its  rare  collection  of  treasures,  where  had  it 
gone?  It  was  not  possible  that  Le  Page  could 
have  failed,  and  he,  Michel,  not  have  heard  a 
word  of  it.  Xo,  that  could  hardly  be  ;  Le  Page 
was  too  rich  for  that.  He  was  moved  to  step 
into  the  neighboring  shop  and  make  a  few 
indifferent  inquiries. 

No,  Monsieur  Le  Page  had  not  met  with  bank 
ruptcy,  the  shopkeeper  next  door  told  him,  and 
rather  smiled  at  the  idea.  He  had  simply 
closed  his  business  and  retired.  Xo  one  knew 
just  why.  Some  thought  he  was  in  ill-health  ; 
others  that  he  was  losing  his  mind,  he  had  been 
doing  such  very  queer  things  of  late,  —  for  in 
stance,  he  had  given  up  his  magnificent  home 
on  the  avenue  des  Bois  de  Boulogne,  and  gone 
to  one  of  the  smaller  faubourgs  to  live  in  a  cot- 


1 82  PIERRETTE. 

tage  with  only  one  servant!  Prosperity  had 
turned  his  head,  and  made  an  eccentric  of  him. 
But  all  the  other  merchants  in  the  rue  were  glad 
that  he  was  gone,  for  it  left  them  something  of  a 
chance  now ;  he  had  been  altogether  too  suc 
cessful  a  rogue  for  them. 

Pere  Michel's  face  was  a  picture  as  he 
listened  to  these  mystifying  revelations.  He 
could  hardly  disguise  his  surprise.  He  drew 
his  thumbs  from  his  vest-pockets,  and  snapped 
his  fingers  in  the  air  several  times,  saying,  in  a 
voice  that  was  husky  with  emotion,  "Aie,  aie, 
aie,  I  did  not  expect  this!  Wonders  will  not 
cease!"  and  he  was  so  overcome  with  his 
reflections  that  he  quite  forgot  his  errand,  and 
hurriedly  made  his  way  back  to  his  own  dwell 
ing  in  the  rue  des  Anges,  where  he  might 
ponder  at  his  ease,  in  the  quiet  companionship 
of  his  faithful  dog. 

While  Pere  Michel  was  trying  to  account  for 
Monsieur  Le  Page's  .singular  proceedings,  and 
making  up  his  mind  that  he  would  go  to  see 
the  little  mother  no  later  than  that  evening, 
and  acquaint  her  with  these  strange  facts,  Elize 
was  making  discoveries  of  her  own.  If  the  old 


PIERRETTE.  183 

man  had  stepped  into  the  little  garret  at  that 
moment,  and  heard  what  was  going  on  there,  he 
would  have  been  still  more  surprised.  A  lady 
was  sitting  in  the  room  with  Elize,  — a  hand 
some  lady,  richly  dressed,  unlike  any  one  who 
came  to  visit  the  old  house,  in  fact  it  was  the 
same  lady  whom  Elize  and  Pierrette  had  seen 
at  the  door  of  the  church,  that  morning  nearly  a 
year  ago,  talking  with  their  benefactor.  She 
was  the  patron  for  whom  Elize  had,  without 
knowing  it,  worked  the  beautiful  piece  of  old 
lace.  She  knew  the  whole  story,  and  she  was 
relating  to  Elize  how  Monsieur  Le  Page  had 
come  to  her  himself,  and  acknowledged  his 
guilt.  He  told  her  how  he  had  planned  to 
deceive  her,  until  this  little  woman,  who  was 
only  a  plain,  humble,  working-girl  of  Paris,  had 
refused  to  lend  herself  to  his  unfair  dealings; 
how  she  had  taught  him  the  price  and  worth  of 
virtue,  and  made  him  feel  that  nothing  in  this 
world  could  take  the  place  of  it ;  how  she  had 
spurned  his  money,  his  offers  of  advancement 
for  herself  and  her  little  girl,  and  preferred  to 
live  in  a  miserable  little  garret,  working  hard  to 
earn  thirty  sous  a  clay,  rather  than  be  enriched 


1 84  PIERRETTE. 

by  money  that  had  been  obtained  through  fraud  ; 
how  her  upright  and  strong  young  nature  had 
shamed  him,  and  brought  him  to  a  sense  of  his 
own  weakness. 

"He  came  to  me  with  his  story,"  the  lady 
went  on,  as  Elize  listened  to  her  every  word 
with  flushed  cheeks  and  beating  heart,  "  because 
it  was  I  whom  he  had  planned  to  deceive,  and 
by  this  you  may  judge  how  sincere  is  his 
repentance.  He  might  have  given  some  excuse 
for  not  procuring  the  lace,  and  no  one  would 
have  doubted  him,  I  least  of  all.  But  he  is 
a  different  man;  and  it  is  you  and  your  little 
child  who  have  made  him  so.  He  has  given  up 
all  his  wealth,  and  made  reparation  wherever 
he  could,  and  has  followed  your  example,  in 
choosing  rather  to  live  in  honest  poverty  than 
in  luxury  that  is  obtained  through  dishonor.  I 
honor  him  for  it.  I  honor  you,  my  dear  young 
woman,  let  me  call  you  my  friend.  It  is  not 
often  that  the  people  of  our  world  meet  with 
such  noble,  honest  hearts,"  and  she  held  out 
her  arms  and  took  both  Elize's  hands  in  hers, 
and  pressed  them  affectionately. 

The  little  mother's  eyes  were  running  over 


"'Ah,  Madame,'  she  said,  tremulously,  'you  make  me  very 
happy !  ' " 


PIERRETTE.  l8/ 

with  glad  tears.  "Ah,  Madame,"  she  said, 
tremulously,  "you  make  me  very  happy  !  Mon 
sieur  was  so  very  kind  to  us,  and  taught  my 
little  girl  and  me  to  care  for  him  very  much ;  I 
could  not  bear  to  know  any  ill  of  him.  And 
now,  now,  I  may  think  well  of  him  again ;  and 
my  dear  Pierrette  may  still  love  him,  for  she 
knows  nothing." 

"Monsieur  Le  Page  will  be  greatly  com 
forted  to  learn  this,  and  I  shall  tell  him  of  it; 
for -I  think  he  values  your  good  opinion  more 
than  anything  else  in  the  world.  And  now," 
she  said,  trying  not  to  notice  the  young  woman's 
emotion,  "you  will  be  good  enough  to  send 
me  the  lace.  I  will  buy  it,  even  though  it  is 
not  a  relic  of  some  great  personage.  It  will 
remind  me  of  you  and  your  good  deed,  and 
become  as  precious  to  me  for  that  reason," 
and  the  stately  lady  rose,  and  kissed  the  little 
mother,  and  went  away  from  the  small  garret 
room  leaving  a  genial  atmosphere  of  kindli 
ness  and  smiles  behind  her. 

From  that  day  Elize  and  Pierrette's  star  of 
good  fortune  seemed  to  shine  brightly  once 
more;  and  the  little  mother  realized  then,  more 


1 88  PIERRETTE. 

than  she  had  ever  done  before,  how  surely  a 
righteous  deed  brings  its  own  reward,  —  aye, 
even  tenfold, — and  sheds  its  silent  influence 
on  others,  and  brings  contentment  to  ourselves. 
It  is  a  blessed  lesson ;  and  fortunate  are  we  if 
we  learn  to  know  its  worth  while  we  are  still 
young,  and  may  use  the  power  and  charm  of 
youth  to  bring  others  to  a  sense  of  its  truth. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


SOME  months  later,  Pierrette  came  into  Pere 
Michel's  shop,  one  very  warm  morning,  about 
noon,  and  was  greatly  surprised  to  find  the  old 
man  stretched  out  in  his  arm-chair,  his  feet 
resting  on  the  little  wooden  stool  before  him, 
his  head  bandaged  with  a  dripping  red  hand 
kerchief  whose  dyed  moisture  trickled  dismally 
down  his  face  and  ears,  and  gave  him  a  most 
dejected  aspect.  He  was  groaning  lamentably, 
and  making  the  most  alarming  grimaces;  and 
Joy-of-My-Heart  was  mingling  his  wails  of 
distress  with  those  of  his  master.  The  whole 
scene  might  have  appeared  ludicrous  to  little 
Pierrette  if  she  had  not  feared  that  he  had  met 
with  some  dire  calamity. 


IQO  PIERRETTE. 

"Oh,  pray,  Monsieur  Michel,  what  is  the 
matter?"  she  cried;  "has  anything  happened 
to  you?"  and  she  ran  to  him,  and  laid  her 
little  hand  soothingly  on  his  temple,  as  she 
was  wont  to  do  for  old  Jeanneton  when  she  had 
her  crises  dc  ncrfs. 

"Aie,  oh,  aie,  oh!"  bellowed  the  old  fellow, 
"  it  is  spasms,  spasms  in  the  back  of  my  neck. 
I  must  have  caught  a  sunstroke  when  I  went 
out  to  fetch  my  eggs.  Ah.  ta,  ta,  there  goes 
another  one  over  my  left  eye ! " 

"  Oh,  is  it  so  bad  as  that  ?  Do  let  me  run  for 
the  apothecary;  he  will  make  you  well  at  once, 
I  know.  He  gives  maman  tisanes  for  her  head 
ache  very  often." 

"No,  no,  do  not  call  him  ;  I  have  a  horror  of 
the  brutes.  There,  I  shall  be  better  soon ; 
perhaps  it  is  not  quite  a  sunstroke  after  all ; 
but  there  are  hammers  in  my  head,  and  they  are 
all  pounding  in  different  ways,  and  there  are 
little  saws,  a  dozen  of  them,  sawing  my  cranium 
in  two.  Oh,  la,  la  !  " 

Pierrette  shivered  at  these  blood-curdling 
sensations.  "What  can  I  do  for  you,"  she 
asked.  "  Oh,  let  me  go  for  maman  !  " 


PIERRETTE.  IQI 

"Yes,  yes,  you  may  do  that,"  he  said;  "the 
sight  of  your  little  mother  alone,  and  you  too, 
for  that  matter,  would  cure  a  fit  of  apoplexy. 
But  first,  clip  this  into  that  cold  water,"  and  he 
handed  her  the  red  bandana. 

Pierrette  did  as  she  was  bidden,  and  laid  the 
cool,  wet  cloth  on  the  old  man's  head;  at  which 
he  gave  a  tremendous  sigh  of  relief,  and  declared 
that  he  was  better  already. 

In  a  few  moments  the  little  girl  returned 
with  her  mother,  who  was  quite  alarmed  at  the 
child's  description  of  Pere  Michel's  dire  con 
dition.  She  had  brought  her  tisanes  and  her 
spirit-lamp,  and  began  at  once  to  administer 
the  soothing  remedies. 

Pere  Michel  was  in  no  very  great  danger,  —  a 
little  headache,  perhaps,  from  having  sat  up  too 
late  the  night  before  to  reckon  up  his  profit  and 
loss,  for  it  was  just  at  the  close  of  his  busy 
season;  but  he  was  usually  so  hale  and  robust 
that  the  slightest  symptom  of  a  pain  alarmed 
him  immeasurably ;  and  he  always  imagined 
himself  the  prey  of  some  fatal  malady,  and 
knew  that  he  was  going  to  die  immediately. 
He  would  not  own  up  to  a  simple  migraines,  or 


1 92  PIERRETTE. 

headache,  for  that  was  the  complaint  of  the 
genteel  world.  Besides,  he  contended  that  he 
had  very  little  in  his  head  to  ache.  It  must  be 
sunstroke,  or  apoplexy,  or  something  equally 
'malignant. 

When  Elize  had  pacified  the  old  man,  and 
reassured  him  about  himself,  he  eyed  her 
shrewdly  as  he  handed  her  the  empty  cup  of 
tea.  "So  you  think  I  am  not  likely  to  die  this 
time?  "  he  inquired  of  her,  as  seriously  as  if  she 
were  the  one  to  decide  that  matter. 

"Oh,  dear,  no,"  replied  Elize,  cheerfully. 
"You  will  be  all  well  in  a  few  hours,  and  quite 
like  yourself  again.  You  have  a  great  many 
more  years  to  live,  I  hope,  Monsieur  Michel." 

"Nevertheless,  it  is  always  well  to  be  pre 
pared  for  the  worst.  Life  is  uncertain ;  and  I 
have  made  all  my  arrangements.  I  do  not  pro 
pose  to  be  taken  unawares." 

"Of  course  not,"  said  E*lize,  not  quite  com 
prehending  the  drift  of  his  words,  but  not  wish 
ing  to  fatigue  him  with  explanations. 

"  I  had  not  meant  to  tell  you  so  soon ;  but 
after  such  an  attack  as  this,  there  is  no  telling 
what  hour  may  be  my  last !  " 


"  Pierrette  did  as  she  was  bidden,  and  laid  the  cool,  wet  cloth  on 
the  old  man's  head." 


PIERRETTE.  195 

"Oh,  pray  don't,  Monsieur  Michel,  it  pains 
me  to  hear  you  talk  so/'  said  Elize,  in  gentle 
remonstrance. 

"  You  shall  not  have  cause  to  grieve  when  I 
go,  neither  you  nor  Pierrette." 

"  Indeed  we  should,  Monsieur.  You  have 
been  a  good  friend  to  us." 

"  Are  you  sure  of  that  ?  "  asked  the  old  man, 
remembering  what  they  had  lost  of  worldly 
prosperity  through  his  revelations  about  Mon 
sieur  Le  Page  a  few  months  ago. 

"  Yes,  very  sure  ;  are  we  not,  Pierrette  ?  " 

The  little  girl  answered  by  dancing  around 
the  back  of  the  old  man's  chair,  and  deposit 
ing  a  butterfly  kiss  on  the  top  of  his  bald  head. 
And  this  seemed  to  revive  the  old  fellow  more 
than  his  three  cups  of  tea. 

" Very  well, "  he  said,  "then  you  may  come 
with  me,  and  I  will  let  you  into  a  secret.  Take 
this,"  and  he  gave  her  a  lighted  candle;  "you 
must  learn  to  find  the  way  alone." 

He  pressed  a  little  spring  in  the  wall,  and 
immediately  the  little  trap-door  flew  open. 
They  went  into  the  little  dark  room,  he  lead 
ing  the  way;  and  Elize  saw,  by  the  dim  light  of 


196  PIERRETTE. 

the  tallow,  that  it  contained  only  one  chair  and 
a  small,  old-fashioned  escritoire  to  which  Pere 
Michel  retired  in  secrecy  whenever  he  wished 
to  draw  up  any  important  document.  On  one 
side  of  the  wall  were  three  deep  drawers; 
each  one  was  numbered,  and  was  closed  with 
a  padlock.  "These,"  he  said,  pointing  to 
the  upper  two,  "contain  my  gold,  the  little 
I  have  been  able  to  save  from  a  whole  life 
of  hard  work  and  economy.  In  the  last,  you 
will  find  my  testament."  He  opened  this 
drawer  and  brought  out  a  very  official-looking 
document  bearing  the  seal  of  the  republic, 
and  allowed  Elize  to  touch  it.  "  If  anything 
happens  to  me,  you  will  remember  this  and 
take  charge  of  it." 

"Oh,  Monsieur!"  cried  timid  little  Elize, 
"you  frighten  me.  I  know  nothing  at  all  about 
such  things.  Really,  yoli  must  not  talk  about 
things  happening  to  you,  and  dying!  It  is 
dreadful,"  pleaded  the  little  mother,  who  felt 
that  the  old  man's  mysterious  proceedings  were 
indeed  grewsome. 

"When  I  make  ready  to  decamp—  "  pursued 
Pere  Michel,  jocosely,  "we  must  all  come  to  it 


PIERRETTE. 

some  day,  you  as  well  as  I,  though  the  probabil 
ities  are  that  I  shall  go  first,  am  I  not  forty 
years  in  advance  of  you! — -when  I  slip  through 
the  narrow  gate,  I  cannot  take  this  with  me!  " 
and  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  spread  out 
his  palms  with  a  deprecatory  air,  and  then 
added,  in  a  confidential  whisper,  close  to  the 
little  woman's  ear,  "  She  shall  have  it  all,  —  the 
little  Pierrette,  I  mean  that  she  shall  have  it. 
There  is  no  one  else  to  dispute  it  to  her,  —no 
one  but  Joy-of- My- Heart,  and  he  knows  better 
than  to  go  against  my  wishes.  Do  you  under 
stand  me?  It  shall  all  be  hers;  there-  is  not  a 
great  fortune,  but  it  will  make  a  neat  little  dot 
for  her  when  she  grows  up." 

Elize  was  amazed.  She  wondered  why  peo 
ple  were  so  thoughtful  of  them.  Even  this  old 
man,  who  was  generally  believed  to  be  selfish 
and  unsympathetic,  had  shown  to  them  the 
softer  side  of  his  nature,  and  done  them 
many  acts  of  kindness;  and  now  he  was  think 
ing  of  providing  for  her  little  child,  when 
he  should  be  with  them  no  more !  She  was 
deeply  touched. 

"You  must  not  think  of  that  for  a  Ions:  time 


198  PIERRETTE. 

to  come,"  she  said,  gently.  "See,  you  have 
forgotten  all  about  your  bad  head;  and  when  I 
have  made  you  another  cup  of  tea,  you  will  be 
quite  well  again,"  and  she  led  the  way  back 
into  the  little  shop,  where  Pierrette  and  the 
poodle  were  amusing  themselves  with  a  lively 
game  of  catch. 

That  afternoon,  Pere  Michel  treated  them  to 
a  half-holiday  in  the  country,  which  was  one  of 
the  little  mother's  rare  delights.  He  said  she 
was  working  too  hard,  and  her  eyes  looked  tired, 
and  the  sight  of  the  green  grass  and  trees,  and  a 
draught  of  the  pure,  fresh  country  air  would  do 
her  good  after  the  long  hot  months  in  the  city. 
So  he  sent  them  off  to  Meudon,  that  gay  little 
paradise  of  flowers  and  sunshine  which  Klize 
loved  because  she  had  once  been  happy  there. 
They  wandered  about  through  its  still  woods 
and  flowered  paths,  gathering  the  sweet  wild 
strawberries  and  long  coils  of  foliage  to  take 
home  to  their  little  garret.  They  sat  down  on 
the  cool  moss  to  rest,  under  some  broad  shady 
trees,  listening  to  the  varied  notes  of  songful 
birds  and  all  the  sweet  harmony  of  sound  that 
soothe  the  ear  on  a  quiet  summer  day;  and  to 


PIERRETTE.  199 

these  two  children  of  the  city  whose  young 
natures  had  had  nothing  to  make  them  bloom 
but  old  gray  walls  and  scanty  rays  of  sunlight, 
this  was  like  the  fleeting  glimpse  of  a  lost 
heaven. 

Elize  was  pensive;  her  large  soft  eyes  were 
dreamy.  She  seemed  to  see  something  in  that 
bank  of  purple  and  golden  clouds  resting  yonder 
on  the  summit  of  those  green  slopes;  while 
Pierrette,  with  flushed  cheeks  and  flying  curls, 
was  chasing  the  yellow  butterflies,  and  her  clear 
childish  voice  rang  in  merry  laughter  upon  the 
quiet  landscape. 

They  did  not  know,  as  they  were  there 
together,  what  a  pretty  picture  they  made,  or 
that  some  one  had  been  standing  at  a  little 
distance  watching  them, — some  one  whose 
heart  was  beating  very  fast  at  the  sight  of 
those  two  innocent  faces,  and  whose  lips  trem 
bled.  He  tried  to  turn  away  from  them ;  a 
twig  snapped  under  his  feet ;  a  flock  of  birds 
flew  frightened  from  a  neighboring  tree,  —  and 
Elize  and  Pierrette  looked  around  and  beheld 
Monsieur  Le  Page! 

The  great  lady  had  spoken  truly.      He  was 


2OO  PIERRETTE. 

indeed  a  different  man.  His  face  was  softened, 
and  his  eyes  had  lost  their  piercing,  searching 
look.  He  stood  and  gazed  at  them;  and  his 
face  broke  into  a  happy  smile  as  the  little  girl, 
uttering  a  cry  of  joy,  ran  to  him  with  her 
arms  outstretched.  I  think  there  were  tears 
in  his  eyes  as  he  stooped  down  and  kissed 
her. 

"And  so  you  are  not  afraid  to  come  to  me, 
my  little  Pierrette,"  he  said.  "And  you,  too, 
you  have  forgiven?  "  and  he  hekl  out  his  hand 
to  the  little  mother,  who  had  risen  and  followed 
Pierrette. 

"I  know,  I  know,"  she  said  tremblingly, 
"you  arc  noble  and  good;  you  have  tried  to  do 
right,  and  sacrificed  much  for  it." 

"I  have  done  it  all  for  you,"  he  returned. 
"  It  is  you  that  has  taught  me  the  beauty  of 
truth ;  it  is  you  alone  who  can  make  me  all 
that  I  would  be." 

Elize  understood  him,  for  his  look  said  more 
than  his  words.  She  gave  him  her  hand. 

"I  am  very  weak  and  ignorant;  but  I  will 
help  you  if  you  so  wish  it,"  she  said. 

"  Always  ? " 


PIERRETTE.  2OI 

"Yes,  always,"  and  they  walked  away  to 
gether;  and  suddenly  the  little  mother  was 
in  that  truly  golden  world  of  her  dreams,  and 
the  glory  of  the  dying  day  seemed  to  shed  its 
rays  upon  all  things  about  her. 

They  walked  a  short  distance  down  a  pretty 
winding  road,  and  he  showed  them  the  little 
home  where  he  now  dwelt,  and  told  them  how 
much  happier  he  had  been  there  than  he  had 
ever  been  in  his  grand  palace  in  the  big  city. 
And  when  he  had  shown  them  all  the  simple 
things  that  now  gave  him  pleasure,  and  taken 
them  through  the  Tittle  house  and  garden,  he 
turned  to  Pierrette  and  said: — • 

"Ask  your  mam  an  if  she  will  come  and  be 
the  mistress  of  this  little  home,  and  give  me 
the  right  to  call  you  my  own  little  girl?" 

"Oh,  petite  mere,"  cried  the  child,  throw 
ing  her  arms  about  her  mother's  neck,  "will 
you  ? " 

To  this  clay  Pere  Michel  will  tell  you  about 
it  with  as  much  relish  and  enjoyment  as  if  it 
were  a  fairy-tale ;  and  the  neighbors  are  never 
weary  of  listening  to  it.  How  the  little  mother 


2O2  PIERRETTE. 

and  Pierrette  caused  the  rich  gentleman  to  give 
up  his  wealth,  and  to  become  honest  and  good 
for  their  sake;  and  he  is  not  wholly  disinclined 
to  admit  that  it  was  all  brought  about  through 
his  own  fine  management.  And  he  speaks  of 
"Ma'mzelle  Pierrette"  as  an  heiress;  but  no 
one  suspects  him  of  being  the  author  of  her 
expectations,  or  has  the  least  idea  of  the  sur 
prisingly  neat  little  fortune  which  this  old 
miser  has  hoarded  up  and  destined  to  be  her 
portion.  And  now  the  pleasantest  hours  of  the 
old  man's  life  are  the  Sundays  which  he  spends 
with  Joy-of-My-Heart  at  the  little  cottage  in 
Meudon. 

The  pretty  cottage  is  still  there,  and  you 
may  see  it  yourself  if  you  happen  to  be  passing 
through  the  lovely  village,  —  a  little  cottage 
whose  quaint  roofs  are  mantled  with  the  white 
snow  in  the  wintry  season,  and  overgrown  with 
vines  and  climbing  roses,  and  shaded  by  the 
fragrant  acacia-trees  in  the  pleasant  summer, 
with  a  little  brooklet  running  through  its  gar 
den,  and  the  happiest  of  faces  looking  from  its 
windows;  a  little  home  where  only  peace  and 
contentment  are  to  be  found,  for  the  old  days 


PIERRETTE.  203 

in  the  garret  of  the  dingy  city  house  are  for 
gotten,  and  its  inmates  believe  themselves  the 
three  very  happiest  people  in  all  the  great  city 
of  Paris.  For  one  of  them,  at  least,  has  learned 
that  true  happiness  is  not  to  be  found  in  riches, 
or  power,  or  worldly  renown,  but  only  where 
Love  dwells ! 


THE   END. 


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Little  Marjorie's  Love  Story.    Illustrated  by  Helen  M. 
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Pierrette.     Illustrated  by  Will  Phillip  Hooper.     Small  4to,  203 

pages,  Jl.GO. 

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for  historical  romance  reaches  perhaps  its  highest  manifestation, 
is  a  Western  story,  beginning  at  Montreal,  tarrying  at  Fort 
Frontenac,  and  ending  at  the  old  fort  at  Starved  Rock,  on  the 
Illinois  river.  It  weaves  the  adventures  of  the  two  great  ex 
plorers,  the  intrepid  La  Salle  and  his  faithful  lieutenant,  Tonty, 
into  a  tale  as  thrilling  and  romantic  as  the  descriptive  portions 
are  brilliant  and  vivid.  It  is  superbly  illustrated  with  twenty- 
three  masterly  drawings  bv  Mr.  Enoch  Ward. 


For  sale  by  booksellers  generally,  or  will  be  sent,  post-paid,  on 
receipt  of  the  priit,  by 

*A.  C.  McCLURG  AND  CO.,  Publishers, 

CHICAGO. 


CHORT  HISTORY  o*  ENGLAND 

V_x 

FOR  YOUNG  PEOPLE.  By  Miss  E.  S. 
KIRKLAND,  author  of  "  A  Short  History  of  France," 
"  Speech  and  Manners,"  etc. 

i2mo,  cloth,  price,  $1.25. 


IN  reviewing  Miss  Kirkland's  "  Short  History  of  France," 
the  "  Nation  "  said  Miss  Kirkland  had  "  composed  it  in  the  way 
in  which  a  history  for  young  people  should  be  written."  It  is 
therefore  natural  that  many  admirers  of  the  earlier  work  should 
have  urged  its  author  to  write  a  history  of  England  on  the  same 
plan.  This  seemed  especially  desirable  to  those  who  think  that 
no  history  of  England  adapted  to  the  needs  of  young  people 
now  exists.  Miss  Kirkland  has  yielded  to  the  urgency,  and  this 
book  is  the  result ;  but  it  was  not  written  until  after  years  of 
careful  preparation. 

It  is  believed  that  the  book  will  be  found  to  be  even  an 
improvement  upon  her  admirable  history  of  France,  as  the 
experience  gained  in  writing  that  volume  has  greatly  aided  Miss 
Kirkland  in  preparing  this.  It  will  not  be  found  a  book  for 
adults  simply  put  into  childish  language,  nor  will  it  be  found  full 
of  the  divine  right  of  kings  nor  of  the  unwisdom  of  the  American 
colonies  in  breaking  away  from  the  good  and  parental  govern 
ment  of  the  mother  country;  but  it  will  be  found  very  inter 
esting,  calm,  judicial,  and  somewhat  original  in  its  judgments, 
thoroughly  abreast  with  the  results  of  recent  investigations, 
and  making  the  effort  at  least  to  tell  the  entire  story  justly  and 
dispassionately,  and  with  thought  and  language  alike  adapted 
to  the  capacity  and  the  needs  of  the  young. 


Sold  by  all  booksellers,  or  mailed,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

*A.  C.  McCLUR.G  AND  CO.,  Publishers, 

Cor.  Wabash  Ave.,  and  Madison  St.,  Chicago. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


A     000160631 


